Coco Gauff has been adjusting to living alone when she is not on the road, including learning how to cook.
Gauff's young age meant she lived with her parents until recently. The 20-year-old had still not moved out when she won the women's singles at the US Open last year.
However, the American made plans to move into her own house during and after that famous triumph at Flushing Meadows. She has since moved into a home in Florida.
Gauff is active on social media and regularly posts updates about matters on and off the court. One of those was a recent Instagram story showing her favorite room in her new house, which contained items like books and a Spider-Man plush toy.
The connection Gauff creates with her fans is one of the reasons SportsPro ranked her as the most marketable tennis player in the world, with Novak Djokovic being the next highest ranked.
Gauff's willingness to speak about significant issues off the court also contributed to SportsPro's ranking. She advocates for issues like racial and gender equality in sports and in life.
That explains why Gauff is the player with the most reservations about the ongoing WTA Finals being hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, due to the country's human rights record that includes mistreatment of women and members of the LGBTQ community.
Overall, Gauff hopes that playing in Saudi Arabia will lead to more equality and help women and young girls in the country by getting them involved in tennis.
The 2022 French Open runner-up's openness about discussing issues off the court allowed The National to ask her what life has been like since she moved out of her parent's house.
Gauff answered that she still visits regularly because her parents have a tennis court in their house. She admits that having to cook for herself has taken some getting used to.
"I just felt like this was a time for me to move out. But I'm still in the same city as my parents, and my parents have a court at home, so I practise there still. So it feels somewhat the same."
"Obviously, I'm living alone, so I'm just trying to learn how to cook more, something I never really had to do living with both parents who like to cook. So it's been something that I've been experimenting with, and had some mostly successes, some failures."
Gauff only moving out this year is a reminder to tennis fans that she is still a young player. The American's breakthrough at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships as a 15-year-old means Gauff has been on the WTA Tour for a while.
Her incredible maturity despite all the media scrutiny in the last five years, most of them as a teenager, could be linked to staying with her parents until after winning the US Open, allowing them to help Gauff stay grounded.
The 20-year-old's position as a role model will undoubtedly increase as she becomes more successful.
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