From red carpets to tennis courts, Coco Gauff is balancing fame and drive

INDIAN WELLS — Next week, she turns 21, but Coco Gauff has already managed to live an impressively full life.

She’s a Grand Slam singles champion (2023 US Open) and the current No. 3 player in the PIF WTA Rankings. She’s the winner of nearly $33 million in prize money — plus vastly more in endorsements. More importantly, Gauff is a solid citizen of the world with a powerful social conscience and the growing platform to wield it.

This past weekend at the 97th Academy Awards, Gauff dazzled on the red carpet with a custom yellow Miu Miu gown, accompanied by her mother, Candi. Afterward she was a radiant presence at Vanity Fair Oscar party in Beverly Hills.

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Gauff took a photo with actor Samuel L. Jackson and seemed surprised when he asked to take a photo with her — before introducing her to Whoopi Goldberg. She also ran into Halle Berry and Ben Stiller, a fixture at men’s matches, and coyly invited him to come watch her at a women’s match.

“Yeah, it was a fun event to meet people,” Gauff told reporters Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Open, “and definitely was surprised most people knew who I was, which was weird.”

But it’s not weird at all. It’s only at these marquee non-tennis events that Gauff acts her age and might be feeling a touch of the Imposter Syndrome. The reality? She’s grown into more than a tennis player. Gauff is an honest-to-goodness A-list celebrity.

Oscars: Gauff, Sabalala, Serena.

It’s tennis, of course, that got her there.

Gauff finished the 2024 season in a blur, winning the title in Beijing, reaching the semifinals in Wuhan and taking the first PIF WTA Finals contested in Riyadh. After dropping her first match in Saudi Arabia, she came back to defeat No. 6 Jessica Pegula, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Swiatek and, in the final, No. 7 Zheng Qinwen.

The 2025 season began much the same way with a 5-0 record in the United Cup and a team title for the United States. When Gauff advanced to the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, she had won 22 of her previous 24 matches. A loss to Paula Badosa in Melbourne preceded difficult first-match defeats in Doha and Dubai, respectively, to Marta Kostyuk and fellow American McCartney Kessler.

For those of you counting at home, that’s three in a row. Which hasn’t happened since late 2022 when, aged 18, she lost all three matches at her first WTA Finals in Fort Worth.

Meeting here with reporters, Gauff did not seem overly concerned. Scratch that — remarkably unconcerned.

“Everybody makes a bigger deal than what it is, I lost two matches,” she said, referring to the Middle East. “Everyone is, like, `Oh, she’s sinking.’ OK, we’ve been through this. I’ll pick it back up.

“But at the end of the day, yeah, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss. It’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back-to-back again. Hopefully it doesn’t happen too many times in my career.”

After a bye, Gauff will play her first match at Indian Wells on Saturday. She’ll meet Moyuka Uchijima, who defeated 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round. Gauff and Uchijima — No. 52 in the PIF WTA rankings — have never played.

Historically Gauff has played well at Indian Wells, compiling a record of 9-4. She reached the quarterfinals in 2023 (losing to Sabalenka) and last year’s semifinals, falling to Maria Sakkari.

Gauff is encouraged by the move to change surface providers here in Tennis Paradise. The courts are speedier this year according to the players, which should help her. In Doha, she said, the hard courts were slower, which favored the flat-hitting players.

“The ball doesn’t bounce as much for us who play with more spin,” Gauff said. “In Dubai, I mean, I’m not using excuses, it’s just being real, some conditions don’t favor certain people.

“Whereas maybe here it’s a little bit better for us who hit with more spin because the ball bounces on the court more.”

Clearly, Gauff was more excited talking about her Oscar experience. She’s still living at home in Delray Beach, Florida, but she eagerly outlined the arduous Oscar dress-selection process, from initial sketches to colors to fitting. Walking with the long train on the red carpet, she said, was a learning experience.

Gauff also discussed her role as the face of Carol’s Daughter, a company that specializes in natural hair and skin care. She featured a dizzying three different hair styles the day of Sunday’s Oscars.

In terms of tennis, with recent results in mind, Gauff is taking the long view.

“I’m only 20 years old, going to be 21 next week,” she said. “It would be kind of silly for me to think [losing back-to-back matches] won’t happen to me again if I’m going to be out here hopefully at least 10 more years.

“It’s just one of those things that you just move on and get better. The results will come.”