Coco Gauff plans on having a competitive summer both on and off the court.
The tennis phenom, 20, is gearing up for a busy grass and hard court season, but revealed that a “reading challenge” with her special someone will act as a worthy distraction from the madness.
“It started because I loved reading as a kid and I kind of lost it when I got older,” Gauff said during her media day at the German Open in Berlin this week. “So at first my goal was to read 12 books, one per month. Then my boyfriend has this thing where he reads the amount of books as the year we’re in, so 24 in 2024, 23 in 2023.”
Naturally, the challenge got Gauff’s killer instincts flowing.
“So when he said he was going to read 24, I got super competitive and I doubled my goal to match his and I like trying to finish faster than him,” she continued. “I’m two books ahead, so I’m winning right now.”
Gauff’s reading list includes books like Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, After Dark by Haruki Murakami and Viola Davis’ memoir Finding Me.
While Gauff gushed about the nature of the relationship with her boyfriend, she did not reveal his name — which has become common practice.
In April, Gauff told Time magazine that she and her boyfriend — who she said is from Atlanta and not famous — had been dating for about a year.
“This is my first real relationship,” Gauff dished. “To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective.”
Gauff’s boyfriend has managed to win over one very important person in her life: her mom, Candi.
“My mom always said, if they’re bad in school, they’re probably bad as adults,” Candi told Time. “He’s always been a smart, nice kid.”
Since turning pro at the age of 14, Gauff has admittedly missed out on some of the stereotypical highs and lows of adolescent life. But she’s recently been able to come into her own.
“At first I was scared to grow up,” she admitted. “But now I’m embracing adulthood and womanhood.”
However, that still hasn’t involved moving out of her parents Candi and Corey’s home in Florida.
“I don’t have a timeline on that,” Gauff admitted. “I always say it’ll happen in my 20s at some point.”
Gauff is currently gearing up for Wimbledon before a summer hard court season that will culminate with her defending her 2023 U.S. Open Championship, when this year’s tournament kicks off August 26.
