MIAMI -- On Tuesday, at Pompey Park in nearby Delray Beach, Coco Gauff returned to her roots.
The World No.3 conducted a clinic with 25 kids from the Delray Beach Tennis Foundation. Gauff grew up down the street and spent hours there, also playing basketball, attending pool parties, umpiring Little League games, even playing hide and seek.
“Being that age, playing on these courts and seeing someone else of the same age I was when I started, it’s a full-circle moment,’’ Gauff said in a speech. “The city gave to me, so giving back is important.”
Gauff was on hand to celebrate a makeover of the courts at Pompey Park, part of the U.S. Open Legacy Initiative. The USTA contributed $3 million and chose to begin with the 2023 US Open champion’s starting point; future renovations will be unveiled in Atlanta and New Orleans.
On Friday, after a five-hour rain delay, Gauff returned to the business of tennis. Wearing the coordinates of Pompey Park on her New Balance sneakers, she defeated qualifier Nadia Podoroska 6-1, 6-2 in a second-round match.
Gauff scored breaks in the fourth and sixth games to take the first set in a crisp 33 minutes. She converted her third set point when the Argentine couldn’t handle a second serve.
The second set began the same way, with Gauff breaking the No.78-ranked player for the third consecutive time. With Gauff serving at 3-2 -- and with skies darkening over Hard Rock Stadium -- the lights were turned on.
Finally, after Podoroska managed to save four match points, Gauff closed it out.
She hit several serves over 120 mph and won 34 of her 39 first serves (87 percent). Gauff saved all five break points against her and converted four of six against Podoroska.
Gauff will play Oceane Dodin, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 winner against and Arantxa Rus, on Sunday.
Last week in Indian Wells, Gauff advanced to the semifinals before falling to Maria Sakkari 4-6, 7-6 (5), 2-6. And while she experienced some nausea in that match, Gauff told reporters here that she’s now 100 percent.
She’s also sleeping in her own bed in Delray Beach. It’s only a 45-minute drive without traffic (and an hour with it) -- only marginally longer than a drive from a local hotel.
There is a downside, however. That would be younger brother Codey, who is 14.
“My family can be a little loud sometimes,” Gauff said. “My little brother … I had to text him this morning … stop screaming. I think he was playing a game.
“He said he was sorry.”
Gauff, who turned 20 at Indian Wells, is increasingly making consistency her calling card. Since the beginning of last year, she’s 14-2 against qualifiers and has now won 13 consecutive matches against players ranked outside the Top 50 -- 11 of them in straight sets.
