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 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 in South Florida, she’s returning to her roots in Delray Beach, a small city on Florida’s southeast coast known for its lively downtown, colorful homes, sweeping beaches — and the locale of Gauff 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
The budding superstar is doing more than just that on this trip home, where she’s teaming up with the USTA 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 a.m.) 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 matches the $3 million purse she earned —but it also builds off millions the organization has already awarded since 2005 impacting 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 explained.
For Gauff personally, it’s also a reminder of where she came from.
Etched into her New Balance tennis shoes are the…
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