Gauff attends Oscars, walks red carpet with mom

She’ll play a starring role at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells next week, but first, Coco Gauff stopped off in Hollywood on Sunday night to make a surprise appearance at the 97th annual Academy Awards.

For her first Oscars, the World No. 3 wore a custom yellow, V-neck gown by Miu Miu adorned with crystals — complete with a long train — as she posed on the carpet outside Hollywood’s famous Dolby Theatre. She finished off the look with her curly hair pulled back in a messy bun, as well as silver sandals, dangling diamond earrings, and a gold watch as her shoes and accessories.

Gauff teased her red-carpet look with posts to her social media accounts before arriving for Sunday’s show, and even brought along her mom, Candi Gauff, as her date for the evening. But speaking to media on the red carpet, the 20-year-old joked that the process of getting red-carpet ready was “a lot,” even though she’s been a cover star for magazines like TIME and Vogue in her tennis career.

“”Hair, makeup, the whole ‘do …. I play tennis, so I’m not used to this glam!” she said. “But it’s nice to get dressed for the day.”

“I’m just here for the vibes, just enjoying it, and just trying to take it all in,” the 2023 US Open champion later said, exclusively telling Entertainment Tonight that she was rooting for Emilia Pérez star Zoe Saldaña to take home the honor for Best Supporting Actress, and that she couldn’t turn down the chance to attend Hollywood’s biggest night.

Gauff also posed for a selfie with Grammy nominee Coco Jones — with the namesake singer joking on her Instagram story that there was “two of ’em” on the red carpet.

Gauff later changed into another custom gown, also by Miu Miu, to attend the traditional Oscars afterparty hosted by Vanity Fairwhere she hung out with Serena Williams. Her post-show look featured a lime-green dress with thin spaghetti straps, which was adorned with green and white crystals down the bodice, and featured a cutout at the mid-back.

“I’m really happy to be here. I want to be more than just a tennis player, and step into other roles,” Gauff added, joking that she was ready to “have her sneakers on” and would be heading to Palm Springs after the show wrapped up.

“This part of it, everything is new and outside of my wildest dreams, but I’m taking it, I’m thanking God for it, and I’m just happy to be here.”