Coco Gauff's Mom Was Her Boyfriend's Fourth Grade Teacher

Between winning her first Grand Slam at the 2023 U.S. Open, collaborating with New Balance on her signature tennis shoes, and being the highest paid female athlete of 2023, Coco Gauff is acing her professional life in the spotlight.

Now, she’s gearing up to take on the competition in the Madrid Open. But the 19-year-old also seems to have mastered keeping the details of her personal life on the down-low, including her relationship with her boyfriend.

Yup, Coco has more going on in life than what she does on the court. Coco shared in her recent Time cover story that she has a boyfriend but prefers to keep his identity private. She’s also known him for ages—her mom Candi was his fourth-grade teacher.

This isn’t the first time Coco has mentioned having a boyfriend. After the tennis star won the US Open, Coco said in a post-match press conference that the night before her first go at a Grand Slam (at the 2022 French Open), she spent too much time envisioning coming out on top, with trophy in hand. Coco believed this distracted her and played a part in her losing the match.

To prevent her mind from going in the same direction a year later, the tennis pro shared that she called her boyfriend to distract her. "I told him, 'Let's talk until it's time to go to sleep,' so we spoke until 1:00 a.m. and then I went to sleep," she said. Coco explained that their conversation helped her "give it my all" when it came time for the match.

Based on what Coco has shared about her boyfriend, he seems like a super supportive partner—and he just might be her secret biggest fan in the stands at the Madrid Open.

So, who exactly is Coco's boyfriend? Ahead, here's everything she's said about her relationship.

Coco talks about him in interviews.

In an interview with the Tennis Channel's Warm and Fuzzy series, Coco and host Michael Kosta were listening to live music, which they both seemed to enjoy. Michael asked her, "What does that type of harp music make you feel?" She responded that it "makes you feel like you want to be in love."

The host took the opportunity to ask about Coco's love life, which she said was "trending up," before laughing and adding, "God, I hope he doesn't see this."

She hasn’t revealed his name.

While Coco has mentioned him a few times, she hasn't disclosed the name of her boyfriend (yet). It seems like being in the public eye means people will scrutinize everything they do and, apparently, she’s just not up for that. (Fair.)

This is my first real relationship,” Coco told Time. “To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective.”

She’s been dating him for about a year.

Coco has been in this relationship for a while, and she’s shared little snippets about her main squeeze here and there. She also had the nicest things to say about him to Vogue. “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,” she said. Coco also called him a “friend that she’s dating.”

Coco’s mom was his fourth-grade teacher.

Yup, Coco’s mom Candi and her boyfriend go way back. Coco’s mom chimed in to her daughter’s Time interview about Coco’s boyfriend, and she had a hilariously relatable teacher’s perspective on the guy. “My mom always said, if they’re bad in school, they’re probably bad as adults,” Candi said. “He’s always been a smart, nice kid.”

He gave her an infinity necklace.

In a November interview, Coco told reporters that she was wearing an infinity necklace given to her by her boyfriend. "I'm sure a lot of relationships look up to that symbol [of infinity], so I'm not going to explain that," she explained, adding that he gave it to her after she won the US Open.

Coco went on to say that before her boyfriend gave her the infinity necklace, she was wearing a necklace with a locket on it during the US Open. "That meant nothing; it was just a necklace," she said. Coco replaced that necklace with the one from her boyfriend so she can "play with something that means something to me."

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