Coco Gauff Talks Confidence Boost Brought by Glamorous Tennis Court Outfits, Hair

Where on-court assurance is concerned, the young star relies on her fashion sense and her curated hairstyles.

Coco Gauff / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

American tennis star Coco Gauff has a lot to thank for her current confidence levels. To start, she has more than proved herself on the tennis court. Last fall, years of hard work culminated in her first career Grand Slam—a win at the 2023 U.S. Open, which made her the youngest American to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999. Beyond that, she has seven career titles to her name—and more on the horizon, undoubtedly.

All of which is to say, she has every reason to be confident on the tennis court. But there are other (non-tennis related) factors that contribute to her on-court energy, too. If you ask Gauff, she would attribute a lot of it to her style—and, particularly, her hair.

When it comes to her appearance on court, the 20-year-old has a few points of emphasis. For one, she want[s] to just be as diverse with [her] hair as [she] can be,” Gauff said in a recent conversation with journalist Taylor Rooks and brand sponsor, hair care company Carol’s Daughter. Her motivation for doing so is two-fold. “I want to be that representation, especially in my sport of tennis, where there are not a lot of Black girls playing,” she told Refinery29.

Beyond that, Gauff can show up to the court more confidently when she has her hair styled. If “you look good and you feel good and you feel good about yourself,” she explained to Rooks, “it almost makes you perform better.”

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In addition to her hairstyle, the Georgia native puts a lot of emphasis on her clothing. She has a penchant for good fashion, and she wants to display that both on the court as well as off of it. “When you walk on court with a good outfit and your hair, your braids are fresh and your skin is looking good, then you just feel like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna beat this girl today,’” she said of the confidence boost that her style brings. “I’m gonna beat you, and you can’t beat my outfit—and my hair.”

Gauff signed her first contract with her apparel sponsor, New Balance, back in 2018. She may have been 14 years old, but the brand saw something promising in her—and decided to hedge their bets. Since, she has signed a long-term extension and secured her own signature shoe with the brand. And New Balance has styled their young star appropriately—in activewear sure to facilitate that very feeling of confidence that Gauff described.