This month, Coco Gauff is in a really good headspace. When talking about the upcoming US Open, the two-time Grand Slam singles champion reflects on last year, which she says was “a very stressful tournament.” Gauff was in the process of changing how she serves while competing, which just took a toll mentally. “I didn’t really get to enjoy [last year’s US Open] that much,” she says over Zoom. “This time around, I feel more comfortable in my game. So I’m hoping that I can have more fun.”
In an era where optimization is the obsession, Gauff says she’s taking a much more relaxed approach to her stats. It’s with that grounded and present attitude that made a partnership with smart ring brand Oura a natural fit. Today, she joins fellow American tennis player Taylor Fritz as the brand’s newest ambassadors, with campaigns highlighting their journeys on-and-off the court and Gauff showcasing her love of reading and family legacy as part of her evolution.
Gauff started using an Oura ring a year ago, before this opportunity came into fruition, something she might’ve unknowingly manifested. “It’s funny because I lost [my Oura ring] around the same time the conversation of partnering up started,” she says. “I was using it a lot. I think it’s just so good to track what I have going on.”
Now she’s upgraded to the newer, sleeker, and thinner Oura Ring 5, a ring that she doesn’t wear during matches (“I’ve been thinking about it,” she concedes), and mainly uses it to track her REM and how much deep sleep she’s getting regularly. She tries to get around the same amount of hours of sleep each night, but doesn’t have a hard number that she sticks to. She just pays attention to when she isn’t feeling as well-rested as she’d like. “I feel like you can get a little crazy trying to make your score go up,” she says. “Sometimes you’re playing a tournament and you’re not going to be able to catch up on your rest because the schedule unfortunately doesn’t allow it. So it’s just finding the balance.”
She’s also learning to listen to her body more. While training hard was the main focus when she was younger, the 22-year-old is making rest more of a priority for the sake of her physical and mental health. “Numbers don’t lie. So you can be like, ‘Oh, I want to train more.’ And it’s like, wait, but your body doesn’t actually need that. So maybe you should listen to that instead of listening to the false rhetoric that the more you train, the better you are. Which yes, but also rest is even more important.”
Gauff just beat Belinda Bencic at the 2026 Canadian Open to advance to the semi-finals and is focused on the next match. But as for how she decompresses outside of tennis, she’s a huge movie lover, recently seeing The Odyssey and raving about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. “I thought it was Tom [Holland]’s best one,” she says. “Acting and everything-wise.” And like the masses, she is always tapped in on Love Island US. “I voted for Brinity to win.”
Gauff also likes activities that stimulate the mind. She actually spent the day before the start of the Canadian Open last week at an Escape Room with her family. “It was pretty easy, honestly,” she says. “It was a haunted mummy theme, but I had to choose an easy room because I was with my family.” I then tell her about Escape Rooms that double as real haunted houses, where one signs a waiver giving staff okay to interact and distract you while you try to escape. “I’m not that intense,” she laughs. “But honestly, it does intrigue my interest.” Should she decide to do those ones, she says she’ll post it online for all of us to follow along.
