Coco Gauff gives back, talks HBCU donations totaling $250,000 in two years at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia—Before Coco Gauff took the court for her Australian Open second round it was announced that the top-ranked American had donated $150,000 for scholarships to college tennis players competing for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

In total, Gauff has donated $250,000 to the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), having first donated $100,000 to the organization in 2025.

After a strong win over Olga Danilovic to reach the third round in Melbourne Park, Gauff spoke of the importance of supporting HBCU athletes in her post-match press conference.

Q. On the topic of maybe making the world a better place, the UNCF reported that you made a pretty sizeable donation to HBCUs. If you could speak about the importance of that cause and what means to you.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, it's super important to me. I think if I didn't play tennis, I would have loved to attend an HBCU. I have families members on both sides, both my grandmothers went to HBCUs, uncle and aunt went to HBCU, and growing up just attending, going to HBCU Classic games and things like that.

Yeah, I think, for me, it was just important to support that cause, especially in tennis. I feel like HBCU tennis a lot of times doesn't get the funding that they need. So for me, I would just always try to uplift, like I said in the previous question, marginalized communities and, you know, put things, support where I can.

Yeah, I hope it goes to students who really need it, and -- well, it will go to students who need it. Yeah, I'm happy that I was able to do this for the second year in a row.

The donations helped launch the Coco Gauff Scholarship Program, which has already awarded scholarships to 10 eligible HBCU students.

“My hope is that this scholarship gives more young Black players the confidence to chase their dreams, knowing they have a strong community behind them and a bright future ahead,” Gauff said.

Gauff will next face fellow American Hailey Baptiste for the chance to reach the second week Down Under.