The most beautiful thing about accumulating so much wealth is always giving back for good causes, which is what Coco Gauff just did by tracing her roots to her childhood tennis courts.
Coco Gauff was one of the breakout stars on the women's tour five years ago. In 2019, she took Wimbledon by storm by qualifying for her first senior Grand Slam tournament and upsetting seven-time major champion and idol Venus Williams.
That same year, she won her maiden WTA title at 15 in Linz. Gauff has since become a megastar. Last year, she was among the highest-paid women athletes in the world, amassing a fortune worth $16 million from off-court deals thanks to her burgeoning portfolio of sponsors.
With a Grand Slam title to her name, her career has flourished in such a short amount of time. This month, she celebrated her 20th birthday. In a move not just to endear herself but also to promote sports and make tennis as accessible as possible, she pledged an undisclosed amount to refurbish tennis courts in her home city of Delray Beach.
In a coordinated effort with the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the 20-year-old had the privilege of taking part in the first project of the US Open Legacy Initiative, which was announced following Gauff's stunning success in New York last September.
The $3 million grant from the USTA matches the champion's paycheck from last year's US Open and is meant to renovate tennis courts across the United States, including schools and public facilities.
Gauff attended the official unveiling of the refurbished tennis courts in Delray earlier this week, during which she spoke of her immense contentment with such a noble cause.
"I want to pour into the communities that poured into me. I want to promote sports and other extracurricular activities in general because I think everybody needs an outlet in their life."
"The more access you allow children to get to these [courts] — and the more children that are playing — is the greater the probability of the next great champion coming along."