The first time Coco Gauff met Serena Williams, she had to step into the tennis legend’s shoes—literally. About a decade ago, Delta Air Lines needed a body double to portray a younger version of the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion in a commercial and found the preteen Gauff at the last minute, putting her face-to-face with her idol. “I just remember her walking by, and it just felt not real,” Gauff, now 21, recalls. “You could have told me that was Jesus.”

Her reaction was understandable. After all, Williams’ dominance at the Australian Open in the late 2000s inspired Corey Gauff to buy his daughter her very first racket—it was pink—and a young Coco had a photo of Williams hanging on her bedroom wall.

But Gauff has come a long way from being that starstruck kid. These days, she’s the one leaving those around her in awe.

Recently honored on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Sports list, Gauff ends 2025 third in the WTA Tour’s rankings, one spot behind the career-high No. 2 she reached last year, and has collected 11 career singles titles. That total includes two Grand Slams: this year’s French Open and the 2023 U.S. Open, which she won, like Williams 24 years prior, as a teenager. Since turning professional in 2018, Gauff, who has also had success in doubles as the champion at Roland-Garros in 2024 and nine other events, has accumulated nearly $30 million in prize money, the 11th-best mark in WTA history.

She is similarly a force off the court, where Gauff has a robust portfolio of sponsors including New Balance, Baker Tilly and recent addition Mercedes-Benz and hauls in an estimated $25 million annually. That figure, along with her roughly $8 million in 2025 prize money, lands her at the top of Forbes’ list of the

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