Pompey Park Tennis Courts Dedicated to Coco Gauff and Resurfaced in Honor of US Open Championship 

DELRAY BEACH, FLA., MAR 19, 2024 – USTA welcomed Coco Gauff to Pompey Park, her hometown tennis courts in Delray Beach, for a court dedication in her honor. 

Gauff, who grew up in South Florida, has been taking the tennis world by storm, especially with her 2023 season. At last year’s US Open, Coco Gauff became the youngest American to win the tournament since Serena Williams did in 1999.  

Photo by Manuela Davies/USTA

She also was the first American to win the title since 2017, when another Florida native, Sloane Stephens won the women’s singles title. Gauff is among many great Florida legends including Mary Joe Fernandez, Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, Chris Evert, and tons more.  

Coco’s hometown courts at Pompey Park were resurfaced through the USTA Tennis Venue Services Program. This marks one of many public facilities that will be resurfaced thanks to her win at the US Open. This Delray Beach park is also part of USTA Florida’s Historic Tennis Trail, which was launched to celebrate the organization’s 75th anniversary. 

Photo by Manuela Davies/USTA

Pompey Park, one of three projects hand-picked by Gauff, holds a lot of value to the tennis prodigy and her family. She grew up playing tennis on these courts and the baseball fields in the public park are named after her grandfather, Eddie “Red” Odom. Odom, alongside Gauff’s grandmother, Yvonne, founded the Delray Beach American Little League, which supported children from mostly black communities to get involved with baseball. 

Gauff was honored to have her hometown park, with rich family history, dedicated in her name. “I strongly believe that tennis can continue to become a more accessible sport, and I would like to thank the USTA for continuing to commit to do so,” Gauff said. “Investing in public parks and our youth is very important. I had a huge dream and this city, my family, my community supported that, and now I’m in the position to help maybe spark that dream in another kid.” 

Photo by Manuela Davies/USTA

“Tennis has grown to be a little bit more accessible, but … I think we have to continue to make it accessible because you don’t know what dream one kid has, and I don’t want lack of resources to diminish or be the demise of somebody’s dream, so I think it’s very important that we have public courts. I grew up, I learned how to play tennis on public courts, I still sometimes practice on public courts. Now, my focus is to continue the growth and also the quality of public tennis courts.” 

Following her US Open victory, the USTA created the US Open Legacy Initiative, where USTA allocated $3 million to renovate courts at public tennis facilities across the country. This matched the prize money Gauff won from the 2023 US Open, which celebrated 50 years of equal prize money.  

USTA Chairman, Dr. Brian Hainline, and CEO, Lew Sherr were at the dedication, highlighting Gauff’s commitment to the game of tennis both on and off the court.