ATLANTA — Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American who ranks as one of the world's best tennis players, was in action Sunday night in Atlanta for a showcase match tied to the Atlanta Open happening this week.
For Gauff, it was a homecoming of sorts - she was born in Atlanta, her dad a former basketball player for Georgia State, and she spent her younger childhood growing up here before moving to Florida.
The Atlanta Open is only a tournament on the ATP Tour, meaning there is no full women's tournament, but the "Sunday Showdown" match serves to highlight two rising women's tennis stars every year.
Gauff spoke to 11Alive's Reggie Chatman ahead of the match, touching on her growing influence on the sport and her feeling of being at home in Atlanta.
"Yeah so many people come up to me, even walking around a lot, saying they don't watch tennis, they just watch me - which I think that's crazy, a lot of the security guards here were telling me that. I guess when I lose the tournament's over for them," she joked. "Obviously I get a lot of support here from the Black community, and seeing how many girls - especially young girls - get uplifted just seeing me... it's really cool to see, I truly think Atlanta's one of my favorite cities in the world."
Gauff also spoke about her role as the leading Black women's tennis player and how she hopes to inspire young fans.
"I was one of those girls who looked up to the Williams sisters, and I don't know if I would have chose to continue with tennis if I didn't have that representation for me," she said. "It's important to represent and try to represent well, and yeah hopefully a couple years, few years form now, there will be another shift and change and more and more young Black girls coming up in this sport. And then I guess I can say I did my job, and hopefully you know maybe one or two will mention me as one of the people they looked up to and regardless of how my career goes, that would make me really happy."
You can see Reggie's full interview with Coco in the video above this story or on YouTube. Play begins Monday in the main draw for the 2023 Atlanta Open.