How Coco Gauff became known as Coco rather than her legal name Cori

When Coco Gauff first burst onto the scene, the tennis world knew her as Cori Gauff, her legal name.

But that quickly changed, with the American superstar widely known now by one name and one name only.

Any traces of Cori have seemingly long been forgotten about by many inside and outside of the tennis world, including fans, her rivals and the media.

The WTA ace addressed the issue back at the 2024 US Open, when Gauff was just starting to attempt to successfully defend her title.

Coco Gauff explained her change from Cori Gauff back in 2024

After winning her opening match of the tournament in New York, the home hero revealed: “My aunt says she came up with calling me Coco.

“But then my dad [Corey Gauff] said when he was younger, people used to call [him] ‘Co.’ Then he was like, ‘I’ll call my daughter Coco.’

“I don’t know which story is actually true, but they both get pretty mad if I don’t say both of them.

“Every time I check into hotels or people at the airport… they look at my ID, and obviously [at] the airport you book under your real name, but the person sometimes will recognize me and they’ll be like, ‘Wait, are you Coco?’

“I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s just a nickname. I’m not somebody that looks like her.’ In the hotel, sometimes, like, ‘Well, we don’t have your room.’

“I’m like, ‘It’s probably under Coco, not Cori,’ and then they’ll do that.”

She added: “I guess they didn’t want me to get my dad and me confused when my mom is yelling at one of us in the house.

“I think it’s cool to be known kind of [on] a first-name basis, in the tennis world, at least.

“I think maybe just because Coco is just so easy and recognizable.

“People like it more than using my last name, which kind of just sounds like a sport.”

Coco Gauff enjoys superb run before Miami Open final heartache

Of course, her name has become synonymous with American tennis, with Gauff currently the highest-ranked player from the nation.

That is across both women’s and men’s tennis, with the 22-year-old set to rise one place to third in the updated WTA rankings.

She is joined in the top 10 by compatriots Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, with Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton in the ATP top 10.

Gauff’s climb arrives after the conclusion of the Miami Open, where the two-time Grand Slam champion fell agonizingly short of further career success.

She made it all the way to the final on home soil, but was beaten by top seed and world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

It will be a tough loss for the youngster to deal with, but she can hold her head high after a hugely impressive run.

Making her venture even more impressive was the fact that she was forced to retire hurt from Indian Wells earlier in the month because of an arm injury.

Gauff now turns her focus to the 10-tournament clay-court swing following the conclusion of the Sunshine Double.

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