American superstar Coco Gauff comes from a family of athletes and activists. This 20-year-old tennis star finds joy on the tennis court and her voice off it. Gauff has always been very vocal when it comes to defending what she feels is right, be it on the court or off the court. Who has been the real inspiration for Gauff behind her bold stands on social issues? Well, she has time and again named her grandmother Yvonne Lee Odom, who was the first black student to attend Seacrest High School in Florida as the real inspiration in all these things. Recently, Coco Gauff was also spotted proudly celebrating Black History Month through her social media posts.

What’s Black History Month? Well, Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the US where it’s known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the African diaspora, initially lasting a week before becoming a month-long observation since 1970. Over the years, several players of African ancestry have left their mark on the sport. In several instances, these impacts have gone far beyond the boundaries of the tennis world.

For example, Athea Gibson showed the path by becoming the first Black woman to win a Grand Slam at the 1956 French Open. Then came Arthur Ashe, who won three Grand Slam titles. Both Gibson and Ashe paved the way for several African-American tennis players of subsequent generations, including the Williams sisters, Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, and many more. Talking about Gauff, she recently shared four IG stories on Black History Month.

In the first one, she shared a post from the ‘Good Good Good’ (newspaper) which mentioned, “While we don’t need an awareness holiday to honor Black history, Black History Month serves as an important opportunity to reflect, reconcile with the past and commit to a more just future. It’s more crucial now than ever to celebrate, amplify Black voices and participate in the ongoing struggles for racial equality.” Then in another one, she shared a picture of Beyonce and wrote, “happy BHM” in the captions.

For those who are unaware, Beyonce became the first Black woman to win the Best Country Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. What else did Coco Gauff share on her IG stories? Well, in another one she shared her tweet which reflected her love for the American rapper and singer, Doechii. She captioned that post with, “the speech she gave too.” Doechii also won the award for the Best Rap Album at the 2025 Grammys. What did the rapper say in her speech, though? Well, Coco Gauff’s latest IG story has that answer! She shared a post on her stories which featured a few lines from Doechii’s speech at the Grammys.

The post stated, “I know that there are so many Black women out there watching right now and I want to tell you: you can do it. Anything is possible.” Coco Gauff seemed to have been highly impressed by Doechii’s speech on Sunday. Who are Coco Gauff’s biggest inspirations in her incredible journey, though?

Coco Gauff names some of the biggest inspirational figures from the Black community

If we talk about some of the biggest inspirational figures in Coco Gauff’s incredible tennis journey, the first name that comes to our mind is her grandmother Yvonne Lee Odm. Speaking about her grandmother, Gauff once said, “She’s the sole, or one of the main, reasons why I use my platform the way that I do and why I feel so comfortable speaking out. For those who don’t know. She was the first Black person to go to what was then called Seacrest High School. That happened, like, six months after Ruby Bridges did her integration. She had to deal with a lot of…racial injustice.“

So according to Coco Gauff, “For her to go through what she did during that time [makes me think that] putting out a tweet or saying a speech is so easy compared to that. That’s why I have no problem doing the things that I do. She always reminds me that I’m a person first instead of an athlete.” Apart from her grandmother, who are the other persons from the Black community who inspired Gauff in her journey?

Last year, we saw Coco Gauff paying a heartfelt tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. This renowned American activist and political philosopher was one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights moments. Then after that, during WTA Insider Podcasts, she shared a few names from the Black community who really played an important role in impacting people’s lives. Who were they?

“If you look at just individual athlete stories like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, even Serena and Venus, and their lives and how they were able to make something great out of nothing. It’s pretty inspiring. I think sports is the key to the world because all cultures and all countries pretty much participate in sports. So, if you look at, not even just at Black athletes but just athletes in general, you see so many stories,” said Coco Gauff. This 20-year-old tennis star has already started to break records with her astonishing feats in the tennis world. Do you think Coco Gauff can become the next big thing from the Black community after Venus and Serena Williams?