“That’s the mentality [Kobe’s] that I have,” Coco Gauff said after she won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open two years back. She channeled the mindset of the great Kobe Bryant, who has inspired Gauff ever since she was a kid. Recently, as well, Gauff has been living her dream at the moment, winning the French Open. The American sensation defeated Aryna Sabalenka in a come-from-behind victory to clinch her maiden title on the clay courts in Paris. While Gauff has been motivated by the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, throughout her career, did you know that Kobe Bryant also played a big role in her successes?

Bryant was a big fan of tennis and really got into the sport after retiring. Even before the American sensation became the name she is now in the tennis world, Bryant had seen her play at the US Open, where he was left in awe of her play. “It’s amazing at that age to have not just the skill she possesses, but the poise,” Bryant said.

He also gave a valuable piece of advice to Gauff: “It’s the more commitments, more responsibilities, more opportunities, especially off the court, opportunities you have to pick and choose and weave your way through that.Not letting those things get in the way of her continuing to develop as an athlete—that’s the hardest thing.”

Recently, during the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast, CBS Sports’ Isabel Gonzalez opened up about this connection between Bryant and Gauff and how Bryant inspired Gauff’s success.

Gonzalez said, “She wasn’t just sitting next to the Bryant family [at a basketball game]; like, she has a backstory with that because she was a young star. She turned pro when she was, I think, like 14,15, and Kobe talked about her a lot before, and he was a tennis fan. He didn’t get to go to a lot of tennis matches, but eventually he made it to one.”

She added, “That was when Coco was 15, so he was asked about it, and he was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about her?'” And he said, ‘You know, as a young player, you have a lot of things in your plate. It’s going to be like media stuff, a lot of outside noise, but you got to map out what you want your career to look like, and you got to work on that.'”

“So Coco is still, of course, really young, but she did follow a lot of that advice. It was really cool because in 2023 at the US Open, she was quoting Kobe Bryant. She made it to the final, and she was like, ‘Job’s not done yet.'” She had that whole serious face like, “Not done yet; I’m not going to celebrate that I made it to the final,” continued Gonzalez.

For the uninitiated, Gauff’s quote was a reference to Bryant’s famous “What’s there to be happy about? Job’s not finished,” line after winning Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals. And clearly channeling Bryant seems to have worked for Gauff, as she went on to win her first ever major title. The same way Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers went on to win that 2009 championship series.

Meanwhile, Gauff’s father, Corey, also talked about how Gauff used Bryant as an inspiration during her French Open run last year. Corey mentioned, “She loves Kobe Bryant. He left a long list of lessons, (such as), ‘Always focus on the craft.’ They asked Kobe: ‘Do you love winning or do you hate losing?’ And he said he loved to figure things out,” he said. “If you approach sports that way, you find more enjoyment in it.”

After her French Open win, Gauff also attended a WNBA game between the New York Liberty and the Chicago Sky. In attendance were also Bryant’s family, who gave a standing ovation to Gauff. She even sat beside Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, and their daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. Meanwhile, Gauff has already begun her preparations for the upcoming Wimbledon Championships. Ahead of the tournament, she made a candid confession about winning the grass-court Grand Slam tournament.

Coco Gauff sounds confident ahead of Wimbledon

The grass courts at Wimbledon haven’t been a very happy hunting ground for Coco Gauff. Although she secured her first win at a Grand Slam match at Wimbledon in that unforgettable takedown of Venus Williams, she has failed to make it past the fourth round here, falling short in 2019, 2021, and 2024. Nonetheless, with her impressive form of late, Gauff is pumped up to continue her winning run.

During an appearance on the Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike podcast, she said, “I think I can give myself the best shot [of winning Wimbledon] by trying to keep the moment [winning the French Open] as minimised as possible. I’m kind of trying to forget the Roland Garros win, honestly. Just to stay hungry. After [my] US Open win, for the rest of that season I was like, ‘I won the US Open, the season’s almost over, I’m pretty satisfied.'”

While Gauff is expected to be one of the favorites at Wimbledon, she’s focusing on keeping herself grounded. “Going into Wimbledon, I definitely feel pretty confident,” she said. “I’ve [been knocked out in the] fourth round there a few times, so I’m really focused on getting past that stage.”

Ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, Coco Gauff will play at the German Open in Berlin. She kicks off her grass court campaign on June 18, where she may yet again face off against Aryna Sabalenka.

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