Like millions of music fans all over the globe, Coco Gauff was furiously scouring the internet on Super Bowl Sunday after Beyoncé's surprise announcement of an upcoming country album. Gauff, the World No.3, admitted country music wasn't her go-to genre, but she's more than ready to dust off the cowboy boots she bought at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth if that's what her idol demands.
"I didn't buy a hat, so I need to," Gauff said on the new episode of the WTA Insider Podcast. "I need to do that and make it Beyoncified. My friends, we have a Beyoncé group chat. So yes, we're huge fans.
"Beyoncé, if you see this, I love you. Maybe I can teach Rumi or Blue Ivy some tennis. I would do it. I would literally pay you to do it."
The reigning US Open champion joined the WTA Insider Podcast last week during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships to provide her theories on Beyoncé's upcoming album drop. With the United States currently celebrating Black History Month, Gauff invited listeners into "Coco's Culture Corner," revealing five historical and inspirational moments that have left a lasting impression on her.
The 19-year-old Floridian highlighted the importance of Juneteenth, the recently recognized American holiday that commemorates the end of slavery. She also discussed the impact of a visit to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968.
"I think I went to that when I was like 10, and for some reason, visiting that museum, has always left an imprint on my brain. Even though it's such a sad place, I feel like you still learn a lot about your culture," Gauff said.
"And Memphis, Tennessee, with the music and everything, I feel like it's another culture spot in America that if you want to learn more about Black culture, that's one of the places to go."
After giving a shoutout to her father Corey's recipe for red beans and rice, Gauff discussed the power of sports as both a pathway and agent of change.
"It's been an escape for so many people in urban communities and poor communities, to escape the circumstances that they were given," Gauff said. "You see so many athletes stopping generational trauma happening and finding a way out through sports. If you look at individual athletes' stories, such as LeBron James, Michael Jordan and even Serena and Venus and their lives, how they were able to make [something great out of nothing], I think is pretty inspiring.
"I think sports is the key to the world because all cultures and all countries pretty much participate in sport. So I think even if you don't even just look at black athletes, but just athletes in general, you see so many stories. And I would say that that's a global thing, not just in African Americans."
Listen to the full episode below:
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