Coco Gauff plays deep in Australian Open: 10 things to know about Delray Beach tennis star

Coco Gauff has been setting the tennis world on fire since 2017, when she was a teenager ... which she still is.

The prodigy from Delray Beach was the youngest to play in a junior U.S. Open final when she was just 13. Now 19 and a U.S. Open champion, she is vying for another Grand Slam championship as she advances in the Australian Open.

Gauff won her first major title in September when she beat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets at the U.S. Open. Her first Grand Slam win didn't come without controversy, as environmental protesters interrupted play during her semifinal match for nearly an hour. Now Gauff is the No. 3 ranked women's tennis player in the world, and she'll face Sabalenka again in the Aussie Open semifinals after beating Marta Kostyuk 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 early Tuesday morning EST.

The Florida teen is at the top of her game, though it's far from her first moment in the spotlight. Gauff first burst onto the scene when she, as a 15-year-old, beat Venus Williams, one of her childhood idols who also has close ties to Palm Beach County, at Wimbledon in 2019.

Here's everything you need to know about Gauff as she plays for another title in Melbourne, Australia:

Where is Coco Gauff from? Delray Beach, Florida

Coco Gauff was born March 13, 2004, in Atlanta. But she grew up in Delray Beach, about 20 miles south of West Palm Beach and 53 miles north of Miami.

She did not go to high school locally because of her globetrotting tennis career, but she did earn her high school degree in 2022.

Coco Gauff started at same tennis facility as Venus and Serena Williams

Gauff trained at Pompey Park, the same tennis grounds where Venus and Serena Williams developed into world-class tennis stars after moving to Florida in the 1990s.

“I’ve been playing there since I can remember,” Gauff said in 2018. “My first tennis memory is there. Everyone there, I feel like we’re all a big family. I’m practicing there tomorrow.”

The Williams sisters ruled the tennis world through most of the 21st century. Serena has 23 major titles, one behind Margaret Court for the most all time, spanning from the 1999 U.S. Open to the 2017 Australian Open. Venus won seven major singles championships, starting with Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2000 and ending with the 2008 Wimbledon title. And the two combined for 14 more Grand Slam doubles titles.

When Gauff was awarded the key to the city of Delray Beach in 2018 at 14 years old, she said she dreamt of being "the next Serena Williams."

Coco Gauff Q & A: 'Hometown hero' talks Billie Jean Cup, Grand Slams, living in Delray Beach

Coco Gauff was a junior tennis phenom

Gauff started making waves at the 2017 U.S. Open, when she made the U.S. Open girls final at just 13, the youngest age ever for a junior finalist at the tournament.

In 2018, she became the No. 1 girls tennis player in the world at 14 after winning the junior French Open championship.

Coco Gauff's mother and father were both athletes

Like many star athletes, Gauff is from an athletic family. Her dad, Corey Gauff, played college basketball at Georgia State from 1990 to 1993.

Her mom, Candi Gauff, was a track star at Florida State from 1988 to 1992 when she was Candi Odom. She was also the South Florida Sun Sentinel's Athlete of the Year twice.

Coco has two younger brothers, Codey and Cameron.

How did tennis star Coco Gauff get her name?

Coco is a nickname: The tennis star's birth name is Cori Gauff, an homage to her father, Corey. Gauff told Sports Illustrated Kids in 2021 that the nickname came about because it would be confusing for people calling their names.

"I believe it was my aunt who said, 'Oh, we should just call her Coco,'" she said. "When my dad was growing up, people used to call him Co and I guess they just said, 'Oh, Coco’s a cool nickname.' Ever since then, I’ve been going by Coco. For sure more people used Coco than Cori."

Coco Gauff rose to fame by beating Venus Williams at Wimbledon

Gauff's big break came at Wimbledon in 2019, when she defeated one of her idols, Venus Williams, in the first round 6-4, 6-4. It was Gauff's first appearance in a major, one she earned through qualifying rather than direct entry, through which other younger players have entered the field in the past.

The 15-year-old Gauff made it to the Round of 16 that year. She has since been a force on the WTA circuit, rising to No. 6 in the world rankings as of the 2023 U.S. Open.

How much does Coco Gauff make? Florida tennis star is now highest paid female athlete in the world

Coco Gauff speaks out about mental health, social causes

Gauff has used her fame to give a platform to a variety of causes, namely the importance of mental health. After winning her semifinal match against Karolina Muchova, she shouted out fellow tennis star Naomi Osaka and thanked her for raising awareness for mental health.

She has spoken out in favor of the Black Lives Matter movement and against the Florida law critics call "Don't Say Gay," which effectively bans teachers from talking about LGBTQ issues such as gender identity and sexual orientation.

She also has used her platform for less serious causes, calling out the USTA for making her and other athletes look like "hideous looking people" in an Australian Open promotion styled after Nickelodeon's "Wild Thornberrys" cartoon.

What happened at Coco Gauff's U.S. Open semifinal match?

Early in the second set of Gauff's match against Karolina Muchova on Thursday, climate-change protesters interrupted play for 49 minutes. The protesters were shouting to prevent play from resuming, and one of them glued themselves to the floor in the stands. Eventually, security was able to remove the protesters from the stands.

After the match, Gauff said she couldn't be mad at the protesters because she believes in their cause.

"If that's what they feel they need to do to get their voices heard, I can't really get upset at it," she said.

The heat has been an ongoing story at the U.S. Open as temperatures have routinely been in the low to mid-90s, and an Associated Press analysis shows the temperature at all Grand Slam events has been rising to dangerous levels in recent decades. Environmental activists also interrupted several matches during this year's Wimbledon tournament.

Has Coco Gauff won a Grand Slam? She's a U.S. Open champion

Gauff has made it to two major finals: the 2023 U.S. Open and the 2022 French Open. She lost to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-1, 6-3 in the French Open final.

Gauff defeated No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 U.S. Open final to win her first Grand Slam title.

The victory helped propel her to become the highest-paid female athlete in the world, according to Sportico.

When is Coco Gauff's next match in the Australian Open?

The No. 4 seed Gauff will play No. 2-seeded Sabalenka again in the Australian Open semifinal after midnight Thursday EST. The match will air on ESPN and stream on ESPN+, and it will be rebroadcast at noon Thursday on ESPN2.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Coco Gauff in Australian Open: What to know about teen tennis star