Coco Gauff has revealed she is no longer single and revealed plans with her mysterious boyfriend ahead of Wimbledon next month. The 20-year-old American, who has yet to advance past the fourth round at Wimbledon, intends to spend the summer engaged in a childhood hobby she shares with her partner.
“It started because I loved reading as a kid and I kind of lost it when I got older,” Gauff said during her media day at the German Open in Berlin this week. “So at first my goal was to read 12 books, one per month. Then my boyfriend has this thing where he reads the amount of books as the year we’re in, so 24 in 2024, 23 in 2023.”
Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, viewed her boyfriend’s daily activity as a personal challenge she wanted to tackle, according to Daily Mail.
“So when he said he was going to read 24, I got super competitive and I doubled my goal to match his and I like trying to finish faster than him,” she continued. “I’m two books ahead, so I’m winning right now.”
Gauff’s reading list features titles like “Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, “After Dark” by Haruki Murakami, and Viola Davis’ memoir “Finding Me.”
Her boyfriend, Jalen, resides in Atlanta, and they’ve been dating for about a year, as Gauff revealed to Time magazine in April.
“This is my first real relationship,” the tennis star pointed out, adding: “To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective.”
Jalen has successfully impressed a key figure in Gauff’s life: her mother, Candi.
“My mom always said, if they’re bad in school, they’re probably bad adults,” Candi told Time. “He’s always been a smart, nice kid.”
Despite their relationship, Gauff has no plans to move in with her boyfriend, Jalen, and continues to live with her parents in their Florida home.
In an interview with People, the tennis star announced that her boyfriend will begin to appear at some tournaments within the U.S.
“My boyfriend, he’ll probably come to maybe some tournaments in the U.S,” Gauff said. “It’s just a little bit easier than coming to Europe.”
