Coco Gauff on the Australian Open, Heated Rivalry, and Her New Hair Color

It’s mid-January in Melbourne, Australia, which means the vibes are high: hot Southern Hemisphere summer days, effervescent energy, and the return of professional tennis on the world stage at the Australian Open. Yet before the tournament began, Coco Gauff—the American superstar currently ranked No. 3 in the world—found herself at the city’s antipode. She was still at the cottage.

“I’m Heated Rivalry’s number one fan on tour,” Gauff said with a laugh, referring to the ongoingly viral streamer show (in which, if you haven’t seen it, “the cottage”—located somewhere in Canada’s Muskoka—plays a key geographic role). “Let’s see how much of the WTA I can convince to watch it. There are some nice spicy scenes. I even convinced my mom to watch, and she gave it an 8 out of 10, which is pretty good for her.” A day later, Gauff told me she was rewatching it and would then invite stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams to come see one of her matches.

Coco Gauff hits a forehand against Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan on Jan. 19, 2026.

Pop culture aside, Gauff spent a few days making media rounds in Melbourne during the lead-up to her first match against the Uzbekistani player Kamilla Rakhimova (Gauff won easily). One of those appearances was with her title sponsor, New Balance, to debut a brand new on-court kit. For the first time ever, what Gauff wears during competition will be available for sale to the public; it’s available in orange and purple, with purple being exclusive to Australia.

“I like bright colors on the court,” Gauff told us. “Which is kind of the opposite of what I like to wear off the court, actually. And purple is my favorite color. I think the purple gives more day vibes, orange for night.”

Gauff is also rocking red hair—a move she said was partly inspired, for good luck, by the current men’s world No. 2-ranked Jannik Sinner and his scarlet locks.

When asked if she could convert a dream red carpet look into something performance-ready, Gauff had a great answer: “This is kind of scandalous, but it’s the outfit that Rihanna wore to the CFDA Awards [in 2014], the see-through one with the diamonds.” That iconic ensemble was designed by Adam Selman (who is now the chief creative officer of Victoria’s Secret). New Balance, let’s see a prototype!

Rihanna at the 2014 CFDA Fashion Awards.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the year, and the ostensible global start of tennis’ 11-month-long season. In her first match, Gauff appeared in good form; her backhands were as powerful as ever and her speedy defense was reliable as usual. She’s had trouble with her serve, and it looked like those woes were creeping back as the first set progressed. But as soon as she started hitting those serves with more power, her percentages went up: she only had one double fault in the second set.

“I told myself to accelerate on my serve more,” Gauff said. “And I’ll try to start doing that a little bit quicker for my next match [against Olga Danilović].”

Tennis is top of mind, of course, and hockey not far behind. Yet there’s another sport that Gauff is thinking about Down Under: American football. She’s from South Florida, and is an avid, lifelong University of Miami fan. “Miami, of course,” she said, giggling, when asked about Monday’s big NCAA championship game versus Indiana. She held her thumbs together and her palms up to make the school’s signature “U.” Later, when she won her first match, she wrote out a clear message on a broadcast camera’s lens: “Go Canes!!”