Coco Gauff may be one of the brightest stars in tennis today, but her path to Wimbledon glory comes with a unique off-court twist involving her real name, Cori. As she prepares to take another swing at the prestigious tournament in London, she’s also been fielding confusion at hotels and airports thanks to the name on her official documents.
Gauff enters Wimbledon this year as a top contender, riding a wave of momentum after her recent triumph over Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open final. That victory marked a significant milestone in her already impressive career, which includes ten singles titles and a No. 2 world ranking.
Now, her focus shifts to finally making a deep run at the All England Club, where she first stunned the tennis world by reaching the fourth round at just 15 years old.
Although she’s never advanced past the fourth round at SW19, expectations are sky-high for the 20-year-old phenom. Her tournament begins with a first-round match against Dayana Yastremska, and she’s determined to surpass her previous showings.
Gauff’s nickname confuses travel staff
While fans know her as Coco, Gauff’s birth name, Cori, remains the one printed on passports, hotel bookings, and airline tickets. It’s a detail that often leads to awkward and sometimes amusing encounters, especially when people don’t immediately realize she’s the tennis star they’ve seen on TV.
Gauff opened up about the origin of her nickname in an interview last year, sharing two possible stories.
“My dad’s name is Corey. And so I guess, you know, they didn’t want me to get my dad and me confused when my mum is like yelling at one of us in the house,” she said.
“With Coco there are two stories. My aunt says she came up with calling me Coco. But then my dad said, when he was younger people used to call me Co. Then he was like, ‘I’ll call my daughter Coco.’ I don’t know which story is actually true, but they both get pretty bad if I don’t say both of them. I just say that.”
However charming the nickname may be, it’s also caused some confusion along the way. Gauff explained how travel logistics can get tricky: “Every time I check into hotels or [with] people at the airport, they look at my ID. Obviously the airport you book under your real name, but the person sometimes will recognise me and they’ll be like, ‘Wait, are you Coco?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s just a nickname. I’m not somebody that looks like her.’
“In the hotel, sometimes [they’re] like, ‘Well, we don’t have your room.’ I’m like, ‘It’s probably under Coco, not Cori.’ And then they’ll do that.”
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