Coco Gauff thanks mom, dad in US Open victory speech: What to know about her family (2024)

When Coco Gauff won the 2023 U.S. Open women's championship Saturday, the first people she ran into the stands to celebrate with were her parents Corey and Candi Gauff.

Moments later, while delivering her victory speech on the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 19-year-old champion thanked her parents for all they'd done.

"Thank you guys. You believed in me from the beginning," she said to her parents, adding of a special U.S. Open memory, "My dad took me to this tournament, sitting right there, watching Venus and Serena compete, so it's really incredible to win on this stage."

Coco Gauff added that her history-making U.S. Open run -- she is the first American teen to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999 -- prompted her dad to do something she had never seen him do before.

"Today was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry," she said. "He doesn't want me to tell y'all that, but he got caught in 4K. He thinks he's so hard, but [he's] not."

Coco Gauff's parents, who have been married for over 20 years, are at the center of her family support system, which also includes two siblings.

Here are five things to know about the U.S. Open champ and her family.

1. Both her parents were college athletes.

Coco Gauff has been praised for her athleticism on the court, and athleticism, it turns out, runs in her family.

Corey Gauff was a basketball player at Georgia State University, while Candi Gauff was a star heptathlete on the track and field team at Florida State University.

"Candi was a very well-rounded athlete. She did the multi events, which meant she had to run, jump, hurdle, throw, all those things," Terry Long, who coached Candi Gauff at FSU, told the Tallahassee Democrat in 2019.

Corey Gauff told the New York Times in 2019 that he believes his and his wife's collegiate experience helped them in raising their daughter.

"I think it helps parents when they have played as high as college or even pro," Corey Gauff said. "You better understand the process, and so you don't get too jittery about it. You don't feel like you're running out of time, so you are not rushed. You kind of meet your kid where they are at."

2. The family moved to Florida to help Coco's tennis career.

Coco Gauff was born in Atlanta, but as a child she moved with her family to Delray Beach, Florida, where they continue to live today, to further her tennis training.

3. Coco has two brothers.

Coco Gauff is not the only child in her family, as she has two siblings, Codey Gauff and Cameron Gauff.

Cameron is 10 years old and plays on a youth football team, according to Candi Gauff's Instagram account.

Codey Gauff is a high school student whose sport of choice is baseball, according to his Instagram account.

After her U.S. Open victory, Coco Gauff was seen on the court talking on her phone, which turned out to be a call with her brother.

"I FaceTimed my brother, but he didn't answer," she said in the post-match interview, adding that he did call her back.

4. Coco's dad was her first tennis coach.

Though his athletic background was on the basketball court, not the tennis court, Corey Gauff took the lead in coaching his daughter early on.

He previously told the New York Times that he extensively studied the careers of other great tennis legends, including Venus and Serena Williams, be able to coach his daughter.

Earlier this year, Corey Gauff stepped back from coaching his daughter full-time and is now more of a support system for her, like her mom.

"They're just really my support system," Coco Gauff said last week at a news conference after winning her quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open. "They're helping me remember, you know, my clothes and everything, and my dad is still sending me scouting reports for every match. But my mom is more so, you know, just being mom. My dad just being dad other than the scouting report part."

5. Coco's parents saw her potential early on.

Both Corey and Candi Gauff have said previously that they exposed their daughter to many sports, but she quickly fell in love with -- and showed a real talent for -- tennis.

In a 2019 interview with "GMA," Candi Gauff said her daughter was still in a stroller when she saw she was "destined to be something."

She recalled a time at her niece's track practice when Coco Gauff "got up out of her stroller and just started running."

"The problem was she kept on running and kept on running," Candi Gauff said. "But her determination was there, and I saw at an early age that she was destined to be something."