Coco Gauff graced the cover of Vogue’s April edition, where she opened up about overcoming perfectionism and celebrating her first Grand Slam win. The 19-year-old achieved her maiden major victory at the US Open in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in front of the enthusiastic Arthur Ashe crowd.

 

Now, six months later, Gauff is following in the footsteps of tennis icon Serena Williams by appearing on the cover of the renowned fashion magazine. As she approaches her 20th birthday, Gauff was photographed by the legendary Annie Leibovitz, known for capturing high-profile figures, including the late Queen Elizabeth II.

 

Dazzling in a gold Michael Kors dress valued at $5,690, Gauff also discussed her Grand Slam triumph, the pressures of fame, and her admiration for the Williams sisters in her interview with Vogue.

 

 

 

The teenager, who also poses in a gold Dior mesh dress and top and briefs, described the high of her US Open triumph as an addiction that she will be chasing for the rest of her career.

 

‘That was a feeling I’ll never be able to replicate no matter how many more matches I win,’ she told Vogue. ‘I want to win more so I can get as close to the feeling.

 

‘I told my mom—I literally said, ‘It was an addictive feeling.’ As soon as I felt that, I wanted to refeel it again. I said, ‘Now I see how people get addicted to drugs.’ That feeling was a drug. For the rest of my life, the rest of my career, I’m going to be chasing that high.’

 

Gauff announced herself on tennis’s major stage at the tender age of 15 when she stunned Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019.

 

‘When I walked on the court, I put the music really loud in my ears because I didn’t want to look at, or hear, the crowd,’ Gauff recalled of the match against the five-time champion.

 

‘A lot of times during that match I didn’t even look at the scoreboard because I didn’t want to see her name.’

 

However, Gauff never got the chance to play her other tennis idol, Venus’s sister Serena Williams, before the legend ‘evolved’ away from the sport in 2022.

 

‘If I had the perfect world I would have gotten to play both,’ she said. ‘But Serena retired and I played Venus twice. In my perfect world I would have played Venus once and Serena once.’

 

 

 

But she was glad she faced Venus and not Serena at Wimbledon that year as she acknowledged she wasn’t ready for the challenge at the time.

 

‘Playing Serena at Wimbledon, I don’t know, I feel like it would have messed up my story,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t ready for Serena at that time.’

 

Gauff’s journey to her maiden Grand Slam involved overcoming her perfectionist tendencies, which her mom revealed dates back to a first-grade spelling test.

 

‘It’s a great thing and also a bad thing,’ Gauff explains. ‘It’s not like I’m saying, ‘Good job, Coco.’ It’s like, ‘Okay, why didn’t you do that sooner?”

 

‘I’m trying to do more of, you know, accepting the good shots,’ Gauff said, ‘and giving myself as much of a compliment as I do a critique.’

 

 

 

She also opened up on her dating life, subtly dropping hints about her mystery boyfriend.

 

‘He’s a very nice guy,’ she said, while refusing to reveal his identity. ‘He’s in school now. He’s about to apply for music school. He wants to be an actor and he plays the guitar. He’s not from Delray. He’s actually from Atlanta.

 

‘And actually, um, I will say this: People on Twitter found him two or three days ago. I won’t respond and confirm if it’s him or not, but they caught me in the comments, so they know.

 

‘Some people thought it was someone in tennis and that couldn’t be further from the truth.’