Coco Gauff Reveals How Serena Williams Shaped Her Career, Fashion, and Entrepreneurial Spirit

As Coco Gauff prepares for another Grand Slam before the US Open, she identifies her idol, Serena Williams, as an inspiration behind her match-day outfits

Coco Gauff has expressed throughout her young tennis career that she probably wouldn’t be in the sport if Venus and Serena Williams had never picked up a tennis racket. Serena remains her idol, but the Williams sisters’ cultural power in fashion has shaped her choice in New Balance attire during the most significant moments of her career.

As the 21-year-old prepares for the 2025 US Open (where she won her first Grand Slam in 2023), Gauff continues expanding her business profile. The world No. 2 is teaming up with Naked to launch her first smoothie flavor, “Coco Gauff’s Protein Pineapple Orange Smoothie”, which will hit stores this fall.

The product will be revealed during a New York City launch event just as she heads into the season’s final major. With the main draw starting Aug. 24, Gauff is looking to balance athletic dominance and commercial growth that mirrors the path Venus and Serena created before her.

“Oh, definitely a lot from the Williams sisters, especially Serena,” Gauff said when asked about her on-court style. “And then, honestly, just how I dress off the court. I try to incorporate things that I would wear off the court, which is tough, because what I wear off the court is obviously not comfortable to play in on the court.”

“So we just try to incorporate little things,” she continued. “For example, at the Australian Open, I like to wear cargo pants, so we put a cargo pocket on the skirt and got a cargo button on it.”

Her fashion choices turned heads during a Beyonce concert in Atlanta last July. Gauff previously said the Williams sisters inspired her beaded braid look for an ad with Carol’s Daughter, the beauty brand dedicated to natural hair care.

“I remember obviously watching Venus and Serena when I was young. This look is kind of a homage to them,” she said. “They’ve always changed their hair. They had the beads, they had the braids, they had the curls, they had straight, they had everything.”

Even before that, Gauff said that her father once took her to watch Venus and Serena play live as a child, a moment she called life-changing. By the age of four, she had a Serena poster on her bedroom wall, and by nine, she had been cast to play Serena in a commercial, which was the first time she got to meet her idol.

The respect turned into competition in 2019, when Gauff stunned Venus at Wimbledon, and again in 2020 at the Australian Open. A year later, she teamed up with Venus in doubles at Roland-Garros, where they fell in three sets, but the partnership symbolized a generational torch passing.