Tennis phenom Coco Gauff strives for a medal and a second Grand Slam title while giving back to her community

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Coco Gauff’s rise to the top of the tennis world has been both swift and electric.

Only a few months ago, she captured her first Grand Slam title and the hearts and minds of the riveted crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York when she won the 2023 U.S. Open.

Days ago, and fresh off her 20th birthday, Coco became the first American tennis player to mathematically clinch a spot on the Paris 2024 Olympic team.

But on a windy, sun-splashed day, she’s returning to her roots in Delray Beach, a small city on Florida’s southeast coast known for its lively downtown, colorful homes and sweeping beaches — and as the locale of Gauff’s turning into a tennis sensation.

“I want to pour into the communities that poured into me,” Gauff told NBC News.

Tennis is something I always will promote. But I want to promote sports and other extracurricular activities in general, because I think everybody needs an outlet in their life.”

Back home with a purpose
Gauff is doing more than just that on this trip home, where she’s teaming up with the U.S. Tennis Association as part of its U.S. Open Legacy Initiative to make tennis courts more inviting and accessible to young players all over the country.

The courts she once played on with her father (every morning at 8) at Pompey Park are newly refurbished and the first project in a $3 million grant program.

The USTA launched its Legacy Initiative in recognition of Gauff’s women’s singles title and matched the $3 million purse she earned — but it also builds off millions it has already awarded since 2005 affecting more than 43,000 tennis courts nationwide.

“The more access you allow children to get to these [courts] — and the more children that are playing — is the greater the probability of the next great champion coming along,” Gauff said.

For Gauff, it’s also a reminder of where she came from.

Etched into one of her New Balance tennis shoes are the geographic coordinates of Pompey Park. The other bears a quote from her father: “You can change the world with your racket.”

Her family has certainly changed the world in many meaningful ways already.

Right next to the tennis courts at the park sits a baseball field dedicated to Gauff’s grandparents Yvonne and Eddie Odom, who were civil rights trailblazers in Delray.

Eddie created a Little League for Black children in 1970 and integrated the city’s league shortly after.

A decade before, in 1961, Gauff’s grandmother Yvonne Odom became the first Black student to attend what is now Atlantic Community High School in Delray, breaking through the color barrier.

“She was 15 years old at the time,” said Candi Gauff, Coco’s mother. “And as I hear my mom tell the story … they sat on a panel and they needed to pick a student that could handle being in an all-white school and not react in a temperamental way. And then my grandfather volunteered my mom.”

Without my family, I’m nothing’
Given the momentous history, it makes sense that her family’s past is so important to Coco — and woven into every aspect of her present.

For me, it means everything, because without my family, I’m nothing,” Gauff said.

Her intense competitiveness and jaw-dropping talent continue to draw fans from around the globe and jump-start a new chapter for the sport.

Gauff said her to-do list for 2024 is actually pretty simple: “I want to win a Grand Slam and an Olympic medal. I particularly want to do it this year and win a medal — that’s one of my dreams that I wanted to do as a tennis player.”

She says she’ll compete in the singles and doubles events in Paris, with any potential selection for mixed doubles coming as a team decision but which she’d be thrilled about doing, as well.

Gauff was scheduled to make her Olympics debut in Tokyo but tested positive for Covid-19 right before and had to withdraw.

“I was [crushed] for a day, and then I was like, well, there’s nothing I can do about it,” she said. “You know, people have lost family members. And I realized that life isn’t about playing tennis — so I was OK with it after a day.”

As for her inspiration for playing tennis in the first place?

“Serena and Venus,” she said with a laugh, “and then my dad, of course — he’s the one who bought me my first racket.”

Gauff saw the elder Williams sister play at the U.S. Open when she was only 8 years old.

“I saw myself in Serena and Venus,” she said. “And so it made me believe that I could do something, too.”

Gauff’s father, Corey, who coached Coco from a young age and spent all those days on the court with his daughter training, credits the Williams sisters for giving so many families a powerful feeling: belief.

“I think a gap was missing between Arthur Ashe and the Williams sisters, but they let you know what’s possible,” he said. “And that’s the biggest gift they could give you — and hopefully Coco does the same gift to any other parent — let them know what is possible.”