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Photo montage of Coco Gauff at the Australian Open and with her friends after an escape room.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images/via Instagram/Coco Gauff

‘Not a huge party person’: Tennis prodigy Coco Gauff reveals super casual 21st birthday plans, and we’d like an invite please!

Turning 21 pales in comparison to everything Coco Gauff has experienced, to be fair.

Coco Gauff is killing it at the Australian Open, having just beaten Brit Jodie Anna Burrage in straight sets this Wednesday to advance to the third round. But just around the corner is another major life milestone — the tennis prodigy’s 21st birthday.

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At 20 years and 10 months old, Gauff might have won two Grand Slams and climbed to No. 2 and No. 1 in the Women’s Tennis Association ranking in the singles and doubles categories, respectively, but in the U.S. she’s still not allowed to drink alcohol, rent a car, or gamble. That will all change on March 13, but she’s not too bothered.

In a post-match interview on Wednesday, the 2023 U.S. Open champion revealed her very laid back plans for the landmark birthday, and they consist of having a drink with her parents and maybe doing an escape room, which she “loves.” Gauff says she’s not “a huge party person” despite her friends encouraging her to have a blowout in Miami and “do something crazy” to honor the occasion.

Coco, whose real name is Cori, was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but moved back to her parents’ hometown of Delray Beach, Florida when she was seven for better training opportunities. Candi and Corey Gauff both gave up their careers to put their all into their daughter’s tennis dreams.

“I’m an athlete, so this is my thrill, is being here,” she concluded after adding that maybe that celebratory drink with mom and dad will have to wait considering she’ll be competing at Indian Wells, also known as the BNP Paribas Open, in March.

Still, it’s not like Gauff has never drunk before. She confessed that, thanks to her profession taking her around the world, she has been in multiple places where you’re “legal” after 18. “I was legal everywhere except the U.S., so I don’t think that much will change because I travel a lot,” she teased as Candi laughed from the Rod Laver Arena stands.

Gauff has been playing professional tennis since 2018, when she was just 14 years old. In 2019, she made history as the youngest player in the Open Era to make it through the Wimbledon qualifying tournament and into the main draw. That same year, she won her first pro tournament at the Miami Open in Miami Gardens.

Since then, the tennis star — who has modeled much of her career after her idol Serena Williams — has won 10 singles titles, including the aforementioned 2023 US Open and the 2024 WTA Finals, and nine doubles titles, winning the French Open in 2024 with Czech player Kateřina Siniaková.

Off the court, however, Gauff is an escape room-loving Marvel nerd, even dressing up as Ladypool from Deadpool & Wolverine for Halloween. Her most recent New Balance kit is also designed to emulate the cut-outs in her favorite Marvel heroes’ costumes.

Her birthday plans might seem a little too chill for some, but they’re right up our alley, so if she’s got any spare slots in her escape room tag team, we’d like to volunteer.

Before all that, however, the sports champion is locked into her Australian Open run. Her best performance in the prestigious Melbourne tournament came last year, when Gauff made it all the way to the semi-finals before being defeated by the Belarusian Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka. Coco’s next match happens Fri., Jan. 17, where she’ll face off against Canadian Leylah Fernandez.


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Author
Image of Francisca Tinoco
Francisca Tinoco
Francisca is a pop culture enthusiast and film expert. Her Bachelor's Degree in Communication Sciences from Nova University in Portugal and Master's Degree in Film Studies from Oxford Brookes University in the UK have allowed her to combine her love for writing with her love for the movies. She has been a freelance writer and content creator for five years, working in both the English and Portuguese languages for various platforms, including WGTC.