Coco Gauff has made one thing painfully clear in recent days. When her father is on her mind, Gauff seems to find another gear. Last week in Toronto, a fan shouted “Keep it up, compañera” from the stands and sounded so much like Corey Gauff that Coco said it gave her comfort as she crushed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4. Then came Cincinnati, where things became even more personal. Samsonova dragged her into a three-set fight, but Coco found a way through and immediately wished her dad a happy birthday. For Gauff, losing that match was never really an option.

“Well, happy birthday, Dad. He’s not here. He’s at home watching in Florida, but he’s 55 today. So that was another thing. I was like, I didn’t want to lose on his birthday, but yeah, my dad means a lot to me. He’s the reason why I’m playing this sport and have so much belief. Yeah. If it was up to my dad, he would say I can beat anyone, even if Carlos Alcaraz is on the other side,” said Gauff in her on-court interview.

And after winning, she sent a pointed message to tennis fathers everywhere,” And to all the dads out there, to tennis dads out there, be good to your girls and don’t put too much pressure on them because, you know, the most important thing my dad instilled in me was just to have fun,” said Coco.

Corey Gauff has been one of Coco’s strongest support systems throughout her career. He introduced her to tennis, believed in her ability from a very young age, and eventually became her head coach. When Coco was still a child, Corey and Candi moved the family from Atlanta back to Delray Beach, Florida, so she could pursue tennis more seriously. Corey later stepped away from his healthcare career, while Candi left her teaching job and homeschooled Coco, a sacrifice that Corey once joked turned the family from a single-income household into a no-income one.

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Once Gauff began climbing the rankings, Corey gradually stepped away from coaching and settled into the role of a father and supporter, allowing professional coaches to take greater control of her development. The change was not always easy, as Coco has admitted that they used to argue when he brought tennis discussions home.

Over time, however, both learned that a little distance helped their relationship. Corey even stopped sitting regularly in her player’s box after Coco felt his nervous reactions could distract her.

Now, while he and Candi still travel to support her at major tournaments, Corey sometimes walks the stadium hallways listening to music because watching her compete makes him too nervous.

The Corey-Coco duo is not the only father-daughter duo to have a place in women’s tennis history. Gauff has never made a secret of the fact that the Williams sisters inspired her to take up the sport professionally, with both Serena and Venus coached by their father, Richard, in their early years.

Even former Major champions like Caroline Wozniacki had her father as her coach as the Dane achieved Grand Slam glory and reached the World No.1 ranking. But on Sunday, Gauff was writing her own chapter in that father-daughter tradition, and Samsonova made sure she had to earn it.

While Gauff was playing to make her father’s birthday memorable, it was not a pleasant watch, as the American had to dig deep to win her match and reach the next round.

Coco Gauff Has to Fight Through Her Opening Match to Reach the Next Round in Cincinnati

Gauff came into Cincinnati on the back of semifinal runs in Wimbledon and at the Canadian Open, which meant the American was in fine form. However, on this day, it was her opponent, Samsonova, who had a fast start to the match, breaking the American’s serve twice in the first set to win it 6-2.

Gauff raised her level in the second set, with both players holding serve through 5-4. She then struck at the perfect time, converting her only break point of the set to force a decider.

Once in the third set, the home favorite, cheered on by the crowd, found her rhythm, as she broke Samsonova twice. Gauff’s serve, which has been the vulnerable aspect of her game in the past, held its own, as she did not face a single break point in the final set.

It was a classic Gauff win. She was far from her best, but her defense and grit carried her through. It was also her 16th three-set victory of 2026, underlining just how dangerous she becomes when a match goes the distance.

Having beaten Samsonova, Gauff will now take on Ann Li in the next round, who reached the third round after a win over Zhang Shuai.