Gauff's Mum Shuts Down Ticket Requests
- Candi Gauff posted on Instagram ahead of the US Open to declare that Coco's entire guest ticket allocation is already taken and that she cannot source additional passes.
- Coco Gauff, ranked fourth in the world, backed her mother's public statement and revealed that managing ticket requests had been "extremely stressful" for her parents the previous
- Gauff said she does not know which specific request triggered the post, but noted that demands at New York and Wimbledon are particularly intense, with some people requesting as
Candi Gauff, the mother of tennis star Coco Gauff, has taken to Instagram to publicly block a wave of ticket requests ahead of the US Open, which begins in New York on Sunday — declaring that her daughter's guest allocation is already fully committed and that she is unable to source additional passes.
A Public Warning Before the Tournament
Writing on Instagram before the tournament, Candi Gauff, 55, stated plainly: "I know how excited you are about Coco playing at the US Open. I am too!!! Coco's guest ticket allotment is already spoken for. Unfortunately, I cannot get tickets. Please make your own arrangements." She added a pointed reminder that her daughter is no longer a child and distributes her own tickets to her own friends, cautioning people never to request more than two.
Coco Gauff Backs Her Mother — and Reveals the Strain
Coco Gauff, ranked fourth in the world and due to face Turkish player Zeynep Sönmez, 24, in the first round, said she was caught entirely off guard by the post. Having glimpsed a lengthy caption on her phone before a training session and assumed it was something warm and personal, she only understood its significance when she saw a comment on Threads remarking that "Mama Gauff is strict."
Far from distancing herself from the statement, the 22-year-old — a two-time Grand Slam champion who won the US Open in 2023 — gave it her full backing. "Last year it was extremely stressful for my parents trying to keep everyone happy," she said. "We do give tickets when we have them. But it was just a burden for them." She noted an additional complication: many of those making requests do not have her own contact details and instead approach her parents or members of her team.
Requests From the Margins
Gauff was candid about the nature of some of the approaches. "People come out of nowhere. Years without contact — no congratulations on results, no birthday message — and then suddenly: 'Oh, I'm in New York. Can I have eight tickets for your box?'" She acknowledged that she does not know which specific message finally prompted her mother to post publicly, but suggested the timing was no coincidence. "In New York it is just crazy. New York and Wimbledon are the tournaments everyone wants to attend. But some of the requests are just absurd."
What the episode makes clear is that the logistical and social pressures surrounding elite tennis extend well beyond the court — and that even a player of Gauff's standing is not immune to demands she cannot, and does not feel obliged to, meet.
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