Coco Gauff, the world No. 2 tennis star, has consistently used her platform to honor her Delray Beach, Florida, roots and advocate for the Black community, drawing inspiration from her family’s legacy and tennis icons like Serena and Venus Williams. In a May 2025 Rolex YouTube documentary, *Game Changer*, Gauff reflected on her heritage, spotlighting her grandmother, Yvonne Lee Odom, who integrated Seacrest High School in 1961, facing racial barriers as the first Black student. Gauff credits Odom’s courage as a driving force behind her activism, stating, “She’s one of the main reasons I use my platform the way I do,” per Teen Vogue. This legacy fuels Gauff’s commitment to social justice, evident since her powerful 2020 Black Lives Matter speech in Delray Beach at age 16, where she urged action against racial injustice, saying, “We must love each other… and use your voice,” citing the deaths of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and others.[]
Gauff’s off-court efforts include a $100,000 donation to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) in February 2025, launching the Coco Gauff Scholarship Program to support Black tennis players at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), starting in May 2025. She emphasized her family’s deep HBCU ties, noting, “My great-great-grandfather and relatives shaped who we are.” Her New Balance “Coco Delray” shoe, launched in March 2025, honors her hometown’s Pompey Park courts, where she honed her skills, aiming to make tennis accessible to all.
Gauff also pays tribute to trailblazers like Althea Gibson, the first African American to win Wimbledon in 1957, and the Williams sisters, whose success inspired her to navigate tennis’ predominantly white landscape. In a 2024 interview with Baker Tilly US, she discussed the challenges of being a Black woman in tennis, saying, “Sometimes you stick out like a sore thumb,” but credited Serena and Venus for showing her she could succeed. Her 2023 US Open win, dedicated to Black pioneers, and her 2024 French Open doubles title with Katerina Siniakova further amplify her role as a beacon for young Black athletes. Fans on X, like @Thuso1Africa, hailed her as an “African queen” representing Black excellence.[]
