Coco Gauff’s Empire State of Mind: Tennis, Music and the Energy Behind Her US Open Run — ‘I Just Feel Like a New Person’

Fashion, music and sports collide so naturally, it’s a connection that never needed to be forced.

So when the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Coco Gauff at Bose’s Racket Club at Kith Ivy in New York presented itself, just ahead of her quest for a second US Open title, I jumped at the chance.

Coco Gauff is one of the best young tennis players in the world, and arguably one of the most important young athletes of her generation — but there’s something bigger happening around her.

Tennis has always been about performance, like any other sport, but today’s athletes exist in a world where what they wear, what they listen to and how they show up in the cultural landscape can be just as influential as what happens between the lines.

And of course Gauff understands that.

The 22-year-old tennis star returned to New York City with success on her mind.

If you’re currently breathing in the Big Apple, you surely know it’s US Open season.

The city changes when the tournament arrives: The streets get busier, the tennis fans get louder and Arthur Ashe Stadium becomes one of the biggest stages in sports and culture.

If you’ve being following Gauff, you’d know that the US Open stage has already delivered one of the defining moments of her career.

In 2023, she won the Cincinnati title before heading to New York and capturing her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Three years later, she finds herself in a familiar position after once again winning Cincinnati, defeating Karolína Muchová in the final.

So I had to ask: Does being back in this position bring back any memories? “I think it’s a completely different chapter just because that feels like a while ago,” Gauff tells me.

“So I just feel like a new person, a different person since then.” Coco is not the same player.

She’s not the same person.