Gauff heads into Aussie Open with spotlight on

Last year, Tennis Majors and Scrine released a series called *Raising a Champion* featuring the families of talented young stars including Coco Gauff, Holger Rune and Ksenia Efremova. In case you missed it, the episodes share a lot about Gauff's support system.

In Gauff’s episode, the first of the series, fans learn more about her parents, Cori and Candi. They recognized their daughter's athletic abilities when she was just three, and moved from Atlanta to Florida for tennis when she as in the third grade. They also decided to enroll her in homeschool and put together a 10-year plan to get her pro career started.

Pro success came a few years earlier than they expected as Gauff would make the fourth round of Wimbledon at the age of 15.

In the 13-minute episode, Cori and Candi explain why they sacrificed things like home comforts and their jobs for their daughter's future but still maintained a balanced and supportive family atmosphere. The biggest takeaway is how much her parents believe in Coco as she continues to chase her dreams.

And no, the “pushy parent” label doesn’t bother Cori Gauff one bit.

“I think she’s absolutely got everything that she needs to get to those lofty goals that she set for herself,” he said. “No, I’ not going to allow her to not focus. I’m not going to allow her to not give it her all. I’m not going to allow her to set targets the are too low."

"So if they want to call it pushy then I guess I’m pushy.”

Gauff started her 2021 season at the Gippsland Trophy WTA 500 with a third-set tiebreak win over Jil Teichman, but subsequently lost to Katie Boulter. She reached the fourth round of the Australian Open last year.