Star American tennis player to break out in the last year, Coco Gauff is a native of Delray Beach, Florida. She was born in Delray Beach but moved to Atlanta with her family and two brothers very soon. She spent her early years there, before moving back to Delray Beach in the Miami Metropolitan Area at age 7.
A year later, when she was 8, she worked with Gerard Loglo at the New Generation Tennis Academy. At Delray Beach, she also spent countless hours playing tennis in the courts of Pompey Parks.
The Pompey Parks’ tennis courts are getting refurbished now, as part of the US Open Legacy initiative. This initiative is backed by and is a tribute to Coco Gauff, and more specifically her 2023 US Open victory. Gauff is an out-and-out Miami girl, and therefore, wanted the first step of this initiative to take place in Miami; with the refurbishment of the tennis courts on Pompey. She aims to generate more young, new tennis players from that area.
Coco Gauff’s house in Delray Beach is 42 km away from the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Owing to her life in Miami, she’s had quite a few famous people living there over the years. Here are 5 of them:
8-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is a neighbor of Coco Gauff
It was 5th June 2023 when FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta learned of the unfortunate news that Lionel Messi is moving to Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. He plays at the Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and lives just a 15-minute drive away from there. Messi’s residence is inside the gated community of Bay Colony at 91 Compass Lane, Fort Lauderdale, Miami.
‘7 Rings’ singer Ariana Grande has also had residence in Miami
Ariana Grande grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, where the Miami Open was once conducted. Her career started in the theater in Boca Raton, from where she went to Nickelodeon, before finally hitting big in the world of music. Grande happens to be a fan of the NHL and has often frequented Florida Panthers games at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida.
World No. 5 WTA player Jessica Pegula is also a Florida native
Although Pegula was born in Buffalo, New York, the 4-time ATP Tour champion has lived in Boca Raton since she was 13 years old. She is the daughter of Kerry and Kim Pegula, owners of the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres of the NFL and NHL respectively. Labeled as a ‘billionaire heiress, spoilt brat’ by haters, she has often slammed those haters and squashed those rumors.
Renowned for movies like ‘Uncut Gems’ and ‘Punch Drunk Love’ Adam Sandler also has a house in Florida
Hollywood comedy star Adam Sandler, also one of the highest-paid actors of 2023, bought a condo in Boca’s Highland Beach area in 1999. Although he may have bought the house for his mother, he still visits the neighborhood in Boca quite often. There are even pictures of him playing basketball, a sport he loves, in Boca Raton.
18-time Grand Slam winner Chris Evert also lived near Coco Gauff
For many years, Chris Evert lived in Boca Raton, Florida. She also runs the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca with her brother. The Academy is situated at Mission Bay, west of Boca. Her association with Florida doesn’t just run out there. She was even married to a Palm Beach sportsperson, golfer Greg Norman for a brief time. Chris Evert is a fighter who survived ovarian cancer.
