Coco Gauff continues her search for another WTA title at the Miami Open, where she starts in the second round.

WTA number three Gauff begins her 2025 Miami Open title challenge against Sofia Kenin, who has already knocked out Petra Kvitova.

Like Gauff, Kenin has one win and one loss from her two Grand Slam finals, with the pair now meeting in the round of 64 in Miami.

Gauff admits she is a big trash talker, with the American looking to recover from her Indian Wells round of 16 exit.

She lost to Belinda Bencic in California, which came after back-to-back opening match defeats at the Qatar Open and the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

Coco Gauff wants to win another Grand Slam in 2025

Just as she was in those events and the Australian Open, where she fell in the quarter-finals, the 21-year-old is the third seed at the Miami Open.

And ahead of her opener, Gauff shared her goals for the rest of 2025, having spoken at a community celebration event at Pompey Park in Delray Beach, Florida.

Asked what is next for her in an interview on stage shared live on her Instagram, Gauff replied: “On the court I’m playing in Miami Open on Thursday. It’s my home tournament so I’m looking forward to that.

South Florida pull up today! pic.twitter.com/eHDgrY4Dqt

— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) March 18, 2025

“And then, in personal life, I’m chilling, I’m happy, hoping to get another Slam, so that’s the goal for this year.

“And then just keep uplifting this community honestly. Because of her (her grandmother), I’ve always felt vocal about raising issues on certain causes, giving back.

“And it’s just kind of felt like something that people always ask me, oh why do you do it, how do you do it? It’s not even a reason, it’s just I feel like it’s in my blood, and that’s literally it.

“I don’t feel these types of way. If I see something wrong, I’m going to say something. And I know that tennis… my dad told me as a young girl, you could change the world with your racket, and that’s something that he stuck to me.

“That phrase stuck to me my whole life, and I realized that I have the power literally to influence a lot of people and influence a lot of good in this world, literally just because I play a sport and I hit a yellow ball inside a rectangle box. And I never took for granted to use my voice for that.”

Coco Gauff inspired by Serena and Venus Williams growing up

Gauff is undoubtedly inspiring a community and indeed a generation, not only with her actions on the court but also off it.

She is clearly mature beyond her years, with the 21-year-old remarkably articulate and inspiring for someone so young.

And despite that youth, Gauff has achieved phenomenal things in her brief career so far, including the small matter of a Grand Slam title.

READ MORE: Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka tell the WTA what they want them to start doing more often after their latest rebrand

She revealed that fellow Grand Slam champions Serena Williams and Venus Williams provided plenty of motivation growing up, with a WTA Finals title also among Gauff’s superb achievements.

Continuing the discussion on her personal goals, she added: “I think that’s the biggest thing in this life, that no matter how many trophies I win, no matter how many championships, how much money whatever, the biggest thing that I find when people remember you by is by your impact, and I want to make sure that I have a strong impact in the world in a good way.

“Because if I did my job and I go down as whatever, a great tennis player, then I failed. I want to go down as a great tennis player and a great human and a great humanitarian.

Result
Year
Tournament
Surface
Opponent
Score

Loss
2022
French Open
Clay
Iga Swiatek
1–6, 3–6

Win
2023
US Open
Hard
Aryna Sabalenka
2–6, 6–3, 6–2

Coco Gauff Grand Slam finals
“Because at the end of the day there’s somebody out here that is going to be the next great thing out of the city, so it don’t matter.

“That was the Williams sisters growing up for me, and that’s my most important thing, if another person in any sport could say I was inspired by Coco Gauff, I’ll be like dang I really did that.

“Seriously, it’s all about for me… it’s just leaving the impact and leaving the world a little bit better. And if each generation gets better then imagine how 50 years from now, hopefully I can have a place where my grandkids, I can be like I helped play a part in shaping the world that we are living in.”

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