Coco Gauff Is Making Greatness Relatable

Even as one of the top tennis players on the planet, Coco Gauff connects with fans by keeping it real online.

“I feel like Coco Gauff is our only casual athlete,” R&B singer and creator Anayka She broadcasted to her 1.7 million TikTok followers. “When I see her … She just gives me ‘regular girl.’”

Since being posted, the TikTok video has nearly 400,000 views, 95,000 likes, and 600 comments.

The most popular one being from Coco Gauff herself.

“I am haha I try to tell people I just hit a ball but other than that, [sic] i’m just chilling.”

The video was not intended to be patronizing. Quite the opposite. The point was that, regardless of the accolades, money, and success, Coco Gauff presents herself as one of the world’s most relatable athletes.

For a younger generation of social media users — those who learn their lives through scrolling vertical videos: what to wear, how to cook, where to travel — Coco is a welcoming face in the world of tennis. Whether it’s posting in real time her reaction to the recent season of Peacock’s Love Island (“This is my Super Bowl!” Gauff is heard screaming while recording herself watching a tumultuous recoupling in the show), recreating scenes from Ryan Coogler‘s recent blockbuster Sinners, or using the latest TikTok trend to relish how difficult it is to make genuine friends, Gauff’s use of social platforms leaves her audience with a sense of familiarity. When Gauff posted a viral video from her car calling out the outrageousness of workout regimens scheduled for way too early in the morning, the comments were filled with users agreeing, saying things such as “you’re so right,” and “Literally!”

This is an increasingly common theme across Gauff’s channel: The sentiment that she’s just like you.

But Coco Gauff is not like you. Coco Gauff is not like anyone.

Gauff made history as the youngest player ever to qualify for Wimbledon’s main draw at 15 years old. At 19, she won the US Open and posted herself dancing with her trophy to DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win.” And now, at just 21, she’s ranked No. 3 in the world. In fact, the video referring to Gauff as ‘just a regular girl’ was posted on June 10, one day after Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to take home the trophy at The French Open. After the win, Gauff posted an impromptu video sharing with her audience the actual, much smaller, size of the French Open trophy. She posted the video aboard a private jet.

Peering at these milestones through unfiltered, bite-sized clips posted to her profile allows fans to feel like they’re watching it all happen to someone they know in real life, even though the life of a 21-year-old superstar athlete isn’t actually relatable to anyone but a handful of people. This happens all the time in the bustling creator economy. Influencers and celebrities being deemed “relatable” by fans, although their trips are more lavish and outfits more couture than the average viewer. The fact is, the relatability isn’t truly rooted in the quests themselves, but in the public figures’ willingness to offer their
intimate moments to fans from all over the world.

A peek into the everyday life of an extraordinary figure. In all of sports, Coco might do it the best.

The tennis world has taken notice. Sarah Swanson, Chief Branding Officer for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), came into the job in January with a priority to re-center players, focus on social media, and to look at things from a revamped brand perspective.

“Our players were very clear that they felt like we weren’t really telling their stories and that we needed to be telling stronger narratives,” Swanson said. “Coco and Aryna are frankly two incredible examples of people who use social [media] really well.”

@cocogauff
the olive branch was extended and accepted! we’re good so you guys should be too😂🤍
♬ OK GUYS WERE BACK – Astro Boyke

In fact, last March, when the WTA’s marketing team decided to revive its dormant TikTok account after several years of inactivity, the organization turned to Gauff to assist in making its grand re-entrance onto the social media landscape.

While players like Gauff and Sabalenka are two of the most prominent tennis stars to have perfected their brands in the social space, the WTA has programs in place to ensure that up-and-coming players have the tools to build theirs, as well.

“You get to choose what you give fans and how you want to be perceived,” said Reshina Warren, VP of Marketing and Social at the WTA. “And so our policy is really just to encourage them as much as we can.”

Two to three times a year, Warren and the WTA host an orientation for players who’ve become new members. In the same setting where they are receiving information on their insurance and various other benefits, they are also given a course that takes them through personal branding, how to use their platform, and storytelling in hopes that they, too, can emerge as multifaceted social media users like the already established players.

The investment by the WTA, in both its players’ stories and in social media as a primary marketing tool, is working. The numbers back it up. Through Q2 of 2025, overall engagements and video views are up 25% year-over-year, Warren confirmed.

Warren and her team even gave players vlog cameras during recent slams and encouraged them to share their experiences on tour as another way to give tennis fans an authentic look behind the curtain, a formula they know works, as proven by Gauff.

Coco Gauff is greatness personified. And yet, for hordes of fans and observers alike, she carries a sense of relatability in the way she approaches life, all thanks to the use of her cell phone.

“She is an absolute superstar. She is a social superstar. She is a gift when you are marketing and content people like we are,” said Swanson.

But Gauff’s aura is proven to span far beyond just the business that she brings to the court. Whether it’s pranking each of her parents or candidly and tearily admitting to her millions of followers how humbled she was to be given a standing ovation at the New York Liberty game, Gauff is a gift to them as well.