Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff: What you should know about the 15-year-old who beat Venus Williams in the Wimbledon Grand Slam

Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

• 15-year-old Cori "Coco" Gauff has quickly taken over 2019 Wimbledon Championships headlines as a record-breaking force to be reckoned with. 
• The teenage sensation may seemingly have sprung out of nowhere, but Gauff has said she wanted to be the greatest of all time since she turned 12. 
• The daughter of two college athletes was hand-picked by Serena Williams’ coach to train in Nice, France in 2015, when she was just 11.
• Click here for more of Business Insider’s 2019 Wimbledon Championships coverage.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

If you’ve followed the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, you’ve already become familiar with hearing 15-year-old Cori "Coco" Gauff’s name. Even if you aren’t tuned into tennis, chances are you’ve seen the teenager make headlines after beating veterans like Venus Williams, Magdalena Rybarikova, and Polona Hercog. 

Gauff first emerged as promising talent at just 11-years-old. Here’s everything you should know about her quick ascent to tennis stardom. 

Read more: The 15-year-old American who is taking Wimbledon by storm will reportedly be a millionaire before the end of the year

Gauff’s record-breaking youth has captured the attention of a global audience at Wimbledon 2019.

REUTERS/Tony O’Brien

The 15-year-old took a science test at 11 PM the night before she played one of the three qualifying matches at Roehampton to make the main tournament at Wimbledon.

Gauff told CNN she ended up getting a ‘B’ on the test, and that only one of her teachers even knew she played tennis, but are now all cheering her on. 

Gauff’s mother, Candi, told CNN they wanted to keep school and tennis separate, to "compartmentalize" the two.

Gauff decided to focus on tennis in 2011, when she was just 7-years-old, after playing soccer and gymnastics alongside the sport as a child.

REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Gauff grew up in Atlanta, with her parents and two younger brothers. She was homeschooled by her mother, a former teacher.

The Gauff family moved to Delray Beach in Florida so that Gauff could train alongside other junior tennis players in what Tennis.com calls a "professional tennis incubator."

Gauff’s parents were both college athletes in Georgia and Florida.

REUTERS/Toby Melville

Gauff’s mother, Candi, ran track at Florida State University. Her father played basketball for Georgia State University.

Gauff’s grandmother, nicknamed "Mama D," was her biggest fan when Gauff won the girl’s tournament of the Rendez-vous à Roland-Garros competition in Boca Raton, Florida, in April 2017.

It qualified Gauff to fly to Paris and compete for a wild card entry into the Roland-Garros international event. While she eventually fell short, Gauff became the youngest ever finalist in the girls’ singles event at the US Open.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

See Also:

• Images of the Wimbledon grass show how much tennis has changed over the last 50 years and the impact on the ball is huge
• Roger Federer shared a peek inside the Wimbledon clubhouse in a ‘Cribs’-style video with Vogue
• 15-year-old Cori Gauff used an underdog mental trick made famous by the movie ‘Hoosiers’ to upset Venus Williams at Wimbledon

SEE ALSO: 15-year-old American Coco Gauff proved her star power by passing her toughest test to date in yet another extraordinary Wimbledon thriller

SEE ALSO: 15-year-old Cori Gauff used an underdog mental trick made famous by the movie ‘Hoosiers’ to upset Venus Williams at Wimbledon

SEE ALSO: 15-year-old Coco Gauff had a touching message for Venus Williams after beating the legend in the first round of Wimbledon: ‘I wouldn’t be here without you’

Source: Business Insider – ktenbarge@businessinsider.com (Kat Tenbarge)