“That was my dad’s dream, not mine. Tennis was my dream. But, yeah, he said all his kids had to play basketball at least once,” said Coco Gauff, back in 2022, on her father Corey Gauff’s wish for her to take up basketball. The 2025 United Cup winner for Team USA has achieved a lot in the last two years to proudly say she made the best decision to pursue the racket sport. But she knows that basketball is close to her father’s heart, as he was a fine player during his college days. Gauff has now decided to switch her passion for him and her mother Candi can’t resist sharing her happiness. But wait, has she left tennis?

For the unversed, Gauff comes from a family where sports has always been in focus. Her mother was a track and field athlete in college while her father Corey played basketball for Georgia State University. Before taking up tennis, Coco also played basketball while growing up. But she later developed a huge interest in tennis. Knowing that her father initially wanted her to be a basketball player, the 2024 Roland Garros semifinalist has now made a transition. Seems like she’s fulfilled his dream – but with a twist! The young tennis sensation dropped a huge social media update on Tuesday with an unexpected announcement.

In an Instagram story, dated January 7, Coco Gauff revealed she’s become one of the sponsors for an upcoming women’s basketball league, Unrivaled. It will be based in the US. She also made a playful remark at her dad Corey while conveying that she’s finally made his dream come true, although it’s not in the way he desired.

“I’m switching sports! My dad always wanted me to follow in his footsteps and play basketball,” Gauff wrote. “Haha sorry dad but this is as close as it will get 🤣. In all seriousness, I’m incredibly my grateful to get the opportunity to uplift women’s sports and I am super excited to join the @Unrivaledwbb family 💜💜💜 I can’t wait to watch!!,” Gauff posted on her Instagram story.” she further added.

In the announcement message, she expressed her desire to push women’s sports forward in terms of popularity and audience engagement. The inaugural season of Unrivaled will kick off on January 17 in Miami. Seeing her daughter take up the initiative to promote women’s basketball, mother Candi expressed her emotions as well. Showing a gesture of full support, she shared an Instagram story on Tuesday featuring the post announcing Coco’s partnership with the league.

Although she’s a tennis pro now, Gauff’s chemistry with basketball has been widely noticed. Once she shared some interesting thoughts on her favorite WNBA player Caitlin Clark!

When Coco Gauff expressed honest thoughts on being a basketball player, in another life

Last year, during the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April 2024, Coco Gauff was asked to about her interest in Basketball. After she won a match in the second round of the event, the World No.3 was questioned whether she ever wanted to be a professional basketball player. “It’s funny because my dad was actually talking about that,” Gauff answered. “He was, like, ‘You would have been right up there. You would have been a sophomore. I would have had you shooting Js and everything,'” she further added, as reported by WTA’s official website in April 2024.

Gauff mentioned if she had been a professional Basketball player, she would have loved to play alongside Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark. “Yeah, I don’t know if I would be that type of player, but I will say if I could go in another life I would love to play at the same time as Caitlin Clark just to see if I could guard her. Obviously, now I definitely couldn’t, but I don’t know, if I trained for it, (I) just (want) to see,” she revealed. Remember, Coco Gauff was still playing basketball when she entered the US Open Junior final as a 13-year-old.

“That (basketball) was my dad’s dream, not mine.,” she said. “Tennis was my dream. But, yeah, he said all his kids had to play basketball at least once. I was really good on defense. I couldn’t shoot to save my life, but defense I was on it and because it’s the change of direction. And guarding people, I was really good at that.” she concluded.

Do you think Coco Gauff would have been a great basketball player had it not been for her tennis ambitions? Let us know in the comments below.