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Despite an increasingly public profile, tennis superstar Coco Gauff continues to hold serve when it comes to keeping the identity of her boyfriend a mystery.
Gauff, the defending U.S. Open champion who won her first Grand Slam doubles’ title in June, has preached the importance of keeping her off-the-court life private.
Still, that doesn’t mean she hasn’t dropped some important hints along the way.
For everything we know — and everything Gauff has said — about her partner, keep reading.
How Long Have Coco Gauff and Her Boyfriend Been Dating?
In April, Gauff told TIME magazine that she and her boyfriend had been dating for over a year. Gauff called it her “first real relationship.”
Gauff first mentioned her boyfriend after she won the U.S. Open in September 2023, crediting him with helping her stay mentally focused the night before taking home the trophy.
“I just called my boyfriend, and I told him let’s talk until it’s time to go to sleep,” Gauff said to reporters, “so we spoke until 1 a.m. and then I went to sleep.”
What Does Coco Gauff’s Boyfriend Do for a Living?
Gauff recently gushed about the artistic aspirations of her boyfriend.
“He’s a very nice guy. He’s in school now,” she told Vogue in March. “He’s about to apply for music school. He wants to be an actor and he plays the guitar.”
Gauff was happy to clear up the rumor that she was dating a male player on tour, as some had previously speculated she was dating fellow American tennis star Ben Shelton.
“Some people thought it was someone in tennis and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Gauff said.
In fact, Gauff expressed how dating a non-athlete has been a huge contributing factor to making their relationship work.
“To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective.” she told TIME.
What Have Coco Gauff’s Parents Said About Her Boyfriend?
Gauff’s mother, Candi, has plenty of authority to speak on her daughter’s boyfriend — because she was his fourth-grade teacher.
“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.”
Gauff’s father, Corey, recently expressed how important it is for his daughter and his son Codey, a rising baseball star, to embrace their lives away from their respective sports.
“I want them to really have fun along the way,” Corey told USA Baseball, “because they’re going to be living their lives longer without sport than they are with it.”
How Do Coco Gauff and Her Boyfriend Spend Their Time Together?
Gauff’s boyfriend might not be a professional athlete, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t get her competitive juices flowing.
The tennis phenom recently revealed that the couple have become foes in an entirely different way: a reading challenge.
“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 2024 German Open in Berlin. “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.”
Gauff knew she couldn’t let him get the best of her, so she beefed up her expectations.
“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.”
It turns out Gauff’s boyfriend is also quite the gift giver, as evidenced by a silver infinity necklace she started sporting on the court last year.
“My boyfriend gave this to me,” she told reporters in November 2023 while showing off the new bling.
Gauff revealed he gave it to her after winning the U.S. Open, replacing the jewelry she was wearing previously.
“I was playing with a locket for the U.S. Open and that meant nothing,” Gauff said. “It was just a necklace. And then one day I got tired of taking it off and just kept wearing it. I was like, OK, let me play with something that means something to to me.’”
