“Hopefully it comes back. It’s really sad. I love TikTok,” said Coco Gauff. And, just like that, it did. The app was temporarily banned in the U.S. in January, with officials citing national security concerns. But on his first day back in office, Donald Trump extended the ban deadline by 75 days. The young tennis star has always been vocal about her love for TikTok. She’s been on the platform since its Musical.ly days, keeping up with every trend. And it turns out she’s the most active TikTok user in the American players’ group chat.
After her third-round win against Maria Sakkari at the Indian Wells, Coco Gauff sat down for an interview with Tennis Channel. When she was asked who sends the most memes in the group, she replied, “I’m the one on TikTok the most. But yeah, no one really sends GIFs or anything like that. I think I would say me, just because I’ll send a TikTok or two or something.”
Gauff has also spoken about the platform’s significance. During the Australian Open the 21-year-old tennis player said, “A great thing for a lot of small businesses in our country, and a lot of creators make money on it and have the chance to spread stories. Personally, me, a lot of great stories I’ve heard are from TikTok and connecting with people has been (through) TikTok. I hope it will stay, (but) obviously I don’t know all the security issues and things like that.”
Beyond tennis, the former US Open champion is also a fan of music. Recently, she showed love to rising rapper Doechii. While preparing for her Indian Wells opener, she took a break to post a TikTok dancing to Doechii’s latest hit, Anxiety. She kept the caption simple: “luv doechii.” In the interview, Gauff explained her admiration for the Florida-born artist. “I just love Doechii um yeah she’s from Florida I’m from Florida. I’ve been on like the Doechii train since like for a while now so it’s cool to see everybody else hopping on it.”
Doechii (real name Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon) first gained traction on TikTok with Yucky Blucky Fruitcake. That viral success led to her signing with Top Dawg Entertainment and releasing What It Is with Kodak Black, which went platinum. In 2023, she also made her acting debut in Earth Mama. The World No.1 has been a longtime supporter. After Doechii won Best Album at the 2025 Grammys, Gauff celebrated on X, writing, “LOVE DOECHII AWWWW IM SO HAPPY.”
But Gauff’s love for music goes beyond Doechii. One of her longtime favorites? Tyler, the Creator. And her dreams came true when he gave her a shoutout in a song.
Coco Gauff gets name-dropped by Tyler the creator
In October 2024, Tyler the Creator’s single Thought I Was Dead from the album Chromakopia featured a bar referencing her 2023 US Open win: “You ain’t Coco Gauff, you can’t serve me.”
When Coco Gauff first heard the teaser, she was in shock. “Waking up to my name being mentioned in a tyler song… absolutely insane. thank you,” she posted on X.
The 21-year-old tennis star later spoke about the moment at Media Day in Riyadh. She said, “That was really cool. I was not expecting it. It was crazy because he DM’d me congratulations over China Open. We never talked or anything before. He liked my photo or something when I won US Open. Then my boyfriend is like, ‘Watch, he’s going to drop you in a song.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be insane. That’s never going to happen.’ Three weeks later it happened. I was like, ‘Can he see into the future or what?’” To top it off, Gauff got to witness the name-drop live. She attended Tyler, the Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw music festival at Dodger Stadium, where he performed the song. She was spotted with her rumored boyfriend, Jalen Sera.
While she enjoys her off-court moments, Coco Gauff remains locked in on tennis. She’s now in the fourth round of Indian Wells, where she’ll face Belinda Bencic on Wednesday.
The post Doechii Receives a Major Shoutout From Coco Gauff As She Gushes Over Her GenZ Tastes and TikTok Must-Follows appeared first on EssentiallySports.