Coco Gauff Expands Her Off-Court Footprint as Player-Owner of the Florida Flamingos in World Team Tennis
Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff is stepping into a new arena of professional tennis, joining the relaunched World Team Tennis as a player-owner of the Florida Flamingos Racquet Club. At 22 years old and ranked No. 4 in the world, Gauff is tying a piece of her off-court ambitions to the revival of a team format in her native South Florida.
For Gauff, the move represents a step beyond the solitary confines of the traditional tour, anchoring her name directly to a local franchise where every filled or empty seat in the arena serves as a direct measure of her drawing power.
From Public Courts to Franchise Ownership in South Florida
The announcement carries deep personal resonance for Gauff, who learned the game on public courts in the same corner of South Florida where the Flamingos will play their home matches. Her homecoming, however, brings clear commercial and operational exposure. Gauff’s title as player-owner reflects an equity stake tied directly to the Florida club, setting her apart within the league’s broader corporate structure.
This venture aligns neatly with a broader pattern in Gauff’s career choices. In January 2025, she joined the three-on-three women’s basketball league Unrivaled as an investor. A year prior, she partnered with the USTA to refurbish the hard courts at Pompey Park in Delray Beach, an effort commemorated by her New Balance shoe collaboration bearing the name Coco Delray. Team sports, women’s athletics, and her South Florida roots form the consistent anchors of her off-court investments.
Inside the Reimagined World Team Tennis Format
The revived World Team Tennis embraces the pioneering mixed-gender vision established by Billie Jean King and others in 1974. The modern iteration preserves that original spirit by requiring each team to field two men and two women across four singles sets—covering men’s and women’s No. 1 and No. 2 positions—concluding with a mixed-gender super tiebreaker.
The season runs from December 1 to December 15, featuring a total of six matches across three competing clubs. Gauff is scheduled to take the court for the Flamingos on December 14 and December 15 at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, which normally serves as the home of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. She will share the roster with a high-profile lineup of American talent, including Tommy Paul, Learner Tien, Iva Jovic, Brandon Nakashima, and Eva Lys.
Competing franchises are similarly loaded with elite talent. The New York Empire Racquet Club features US Open semifinalists Frances Tiafoe and Jessica Pegula alongside Taylor Fritz, while Toronto North leans into an all-Canadian roster featuring Denis Shapovalov, Leylah Fernandez, Victoria Mboko, and Gabriel Diallo.
Breaking the Solitude of the Tour
For Gauff, the appeal of World Team Tennis extends beyond business equity into the psychological dynamics of athletic competition. Professional tennis routinely demands that athletes resolve every crisis entirely on their own terms, isolated on their side of the net without teammates to lean on or pass to.
«It’s not often, as a tennis player, that we get to compete as part of a team, so I’m excited for the new experience, not only for myself but, even more importantly, for the fans,» Gauff noted in her announcement. «Growing the sport through team competition and making it more accessible are two things I love, and WTT does both.»
That team format introduces a distinct kind of competitive pressure: playing a set, stepping off the court, and watching teammates determine whether the collective effort holds. As the league tests its viability following its 2021 suspension, Gauff’s commitment goes well beyond a ceremonial appearance, testing whether a modern team tennis product can capture sustained public interest.
The upcoming December fixtures in Sunrise will not alter her position in the official world rankings, but they will offer a compelling glimpse into how modern tennis stars can shape the commercial landscape of the sport on their own terms. What are your thoughts on team-format tennis making a comeback—can it carve out a permanent space alongside the individual tour, or is tennis fundamentally a solo game? Let us know in the conversation below.
