Imagine the sun shining down on you, a cold drink in one hand, and a good book in the other. That’s exactly what Coco Gauff looked like in a picture her dad posted in March, although sans the beverage. Engrossed in Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing (never say no to dragons!), the young American is planning to do the same this summer. An avid reader, the American tennis star has upped the scale on her reading challenge this year, and for a fun twist, she’s competing with her boyfriend. It’s going to be a competition on and off the court!

Coco Gauff is on an interesting reading challenge with rumored boyfriend Jalen Sera. The 20-year-old was biding some time away from the courts over the weekend. Ahead of her ecotrans Ladies Open, Gauff talked about the progress of conquering her TBR pile, which includes books like Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, After Dark by Haruki Murakami, Finding Me by Viola Davis, and The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander.

Speaking to the reporters on media day, Gauff expressed her love for books as a child. “[The reading challenge] started because I loved reading as a kid and I kind of lost it when I got older.” Continuing further, she revealed how her boyfriend encouraged her to read more. “So at first, my goal was to read 12 books, one per month. Then my boyfriend has this thing where he reads the amount of books as the year we’re in, so 24 in 2024, 23 in 2023.”

Coco Gauff has an unquenchable competitive spirit. “So when he said he was going to read 24, I got super competitive and I doubled my goal to match his and I like trying to finish faster than him.” Expressing her joy over her success, she shared that she is leading the trail against her boyfriend. “I’m two books ahead, so I’m winning right now.” 

Gauff also took to her official Instagram story recently, to share a screenshot of her library, highlighting her Reading Challenge. With 12 of 24 books read already, she wrote, “halfway through my reading challenge this year.” In her next story, she added another screenshot of the novels she has completed. “The other half of the books I’ve read so far this year that didn’t show in the last story picture. In case anyone cared which you probably don’t lol but still going to share.” This, however, is not the first time when Gauff expressed her love for books. 

The 2023 US Open Champion tweeted a picture on World Book Day and asked for recommendations from her fans. “In honor of #WorldBookDay here are some of my favorite books! I love reading so can you guys give me some book recommendations?”

As the World No. 2 prepares for a summer of tennis ahead with Wimbledon and the Olympics coming up, Coco Gauff will also be maintaining her bookworm side. While her boyfriend is not from the tennis world, Gauff’s mom, who taught him in fourth grade, has always had praise for the ‘smart’ kid!

Coco Gauff’s boyfriend being in tennis “couldn’t be further from the truth” but he’s a “nice kid”

Coco Gauff’s rumored boyfriend Jalen Sera’s most well-known identity is this – he helped calm her nerves before the US Open finals last year. Next day, the 20-year-old gave a thrilling match and lifted her first Grand Slam trophy by defeating Aryna Sabalenka. But while mot much is known about him, Gauff has revealed over the course of interviews that he’s far from a career in sports, much less tennis.

“Some people thought it was someone in tennis and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she told Vogue in March 2024. Later adding, “He’s a very nice guy. He’s in school now. He’s about to apply for music school. He wants to be an actor and he plays the guitar.”

Interestingly, Candi Gauff was his fourth grade teacher, who told Time magazine, “My mom always said, if they’re bad in school, they’re probably bad as adults. He’s always been a smart, nice kid.” It’s only natural then that these two booklovers found each other!

Gauff finds it a relief that she has someone close to her who’s away from the madness of her career. In her chosen profession, she finds enough challengers on the court, but in her personal life, some fun reading is how she maintain that competitive spirit!