How Coco Gauff, nearing 20, takes inspiration from Beyoncé and Rihanna

Coco Gauff, the entrepreneur? Not now, but in the future, the reigning US Open champion says, as her 20th birthday nears.

After escaping her second-round match against France's Clara Burel at Indian Wells on Saturday—in her second to last match as a teenager, she trailed 4-0 and 5-2 in the third before winning a deciding tiebreak—Gauff reflected on her life and career so far and all the "cool people" she's been blessed to meet thanks to her world-class athletic talents.

But when asked who she'd like to have dinner with, the conversation turned to two women who've leveraged global superstardom in one industry into business acumen in another: Beyoncé and Rihanna—and more specifically, how their successes have inspired and sparked a similar curiosity for her.

"I'm going to go with Rihanna, just because I would love to hear how, like, she started Fenty Beauty, because that was kind of one of the first makeup brands to provide a full shade range of foundation for all skin tones," Gauff said, "and how she kind of like navigated the business side of things, which obviously Beyoncé has an amazing hair brand that just came out too. So, I don't know."

"I haven't done any brainstorming or anything like that. But it's definitely something I want to do later on in my career." she continued. "I don't know in what world that would be in. I can't tell you. I love beauty and fashion, so maybe something in that world. But, again, I haven't really brainstormed. I'm not planning on starting anything anytime soon. I think I just want to focus on tennis.

"But I would say towards the later half of my career, I don't know what the later half will look like, but maybe, like, closer to 30, it might be something I actually try to set."

Gauff's off-court profile, already high since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old in 2019, has exploded since she became the youngest American woman to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999 last summer. In the weeks leading into her return to competiton on U.S. soil alone, she graced April's cover of *Vogue*, and was named one of *TIME* magainze's Women of the Year (even dropping a hint in Saturday's press conference that another cover is in the works).

Ahead of the BNP Paribas Open, Gauff attended a gala celebrating her TIME selection in Hollywood, where she wore a custom Prada dress and rubbed shoulders with former Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn, former WNBA champion Renee Montgomery, and her fellow honorees including director Greta Gerwig and actress Taraji P. Henson.

"There was a lot of incredible women on the list. Going to the gala was really insane, got to meet some cool people," Gauff said. "For me, it was just really cool to be surrounded by incredible women. I wasn't expecting to make the list, but when I found out, it was a huge honor."

On the court, Gauff will officially close the book on her teenage years in Tennis Paradise over the next few days, as she gets her doubles campaign with Jessica Pegula underway and faces Italy's Lucia Bronzetti in the third round in singles on Monday.