Fashion, music and sports collide so naturally, it’s a connection that never needed to be forced. So when the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Coco Gauff at Bose’s Racket Club at Kith Ivy in New York presented itself, just ahead of her quest for a second US Open title, I jumped at the chance.

Coco Gauff is one of the best young tennis players in the world, and arguably one of the most important young athletes of her generation — but there’s something bigger happening around her. Tennis has always been about performance, like any other sport, but today’s athletes exist in a world where what they wear, what they listen to and how they show up in the cultural landscape can be just as influential as what happens between the lines.

And of course Gauff understands that. The 22-year-old tennis star returned to New York City with success on her mind. 

If you’re currently breathing in the Big Apple, you surely know it’s US Open season. The city changes when the tournament arrives: The streets get busier, the tennis fans get louder and Arthur Ashe Stadium becomes one of the biggest stages in sports and culture. 

If you’ve being following Gauff, you’d know that the US Open stage has already delivered one of the defining moments of her career. In 2023, she won the Cincinnati title before heading to New York and capturing her first Grand Slam title at the US Open. Three years later, she finds herself in a familiar position after once again winning Cincinnati, defeating Karolína Muchová in the final.

So I had to ask: Does being back in this position bring back any memories?

“I think it’s a completely different chapter just because that feels like a while ago,” Gauff tells me. “So I just feel like a new person, a different person since then.”

Coco is not the same player. She’s not the same person.

There’s something about New York that brings out a different energy in people. As a New Yorker, I may be biased, but it’s an unspoken fact that this city has a way of pulling something out of you. It’s fashionable. It’s loud. It’s unapologetic. And everyone here is somebody. When the city gets behind you, you feel it. Gauff definitely does.

“What is it about playing the US Open in New York that brings out a different version of Coco?” I ask her.

“I think just the crowd,” she says. “They go full force for me. I love them, they love me and I think we just have a great relationship here in New York.”

Gauff at the US Open is different because the city is different. In my view she isn’t simply playing in New York. She’s playing with New York. And she had that New York fire in here when she opened her tournament the previous night with a straight-sets victory over Zeynep Sonmez at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Gauff came out serving huge from the start, firing aces and ultimately securing a 6-3, 6-4 win.

It was exactly the kind of start she needed. Over the past year, Gauff has made changes to her team and her game, working with biomechanic coach Gavin MacMillan as she continues to address areas of concern. 

“You’ve talked about how much your game has evolved over the past year — what’s one part of your game that you think people watching you at the US Open might notice is different?” I ask her.

Her simple answer: “I changed my serve, and it’s been more consistent and much better… I’m also trying to come to the net a little bit more.”

Small adjustments — and at the highest level of tennis these small adjustments 100% change a match. And her win on Tuesday night makes it very clear. 

Winning is obviously the goal for any athlete. The pressure that comes with constantly chasing another victory makes it easy to forget that you may be an athlete, but you’re still a person after the match ends. Gauff learned that lesson during last year’s US Open. I ask her what she’s learned about yourself from that experience that she’s bringing with her into this year’s tournament.

“I feel like that was probably one of my worst tournaments,” she answers. “Not even performance-wise, because I made it decently far — but probably one of my worst in terms of how I felt on the court.”

For Gauff, the difficult part wasn’t the game itself. It was how she felt while competing on and off the court. But once the tournament came to an end, she gained some perspective.

“After it was over, I was still able to realize that my life was the same,” she says. “I still had my family and friends.”

That realization became its own kind of victory. “So I think that was a good learning experience,” she continues, “knowing that when I’m not feeling great on the court, I still have so many things in my life that can uplift me.”

Music is such a strong driving force. It boosts your confidence, determination and calms you down. And regardless of age, race, gender, religion or occupation, music is one of the few things capable of connecting us all.

Coco Gauff understands that as well as anyone. She’s previously talked about how important music is to her pre-match routine. She uses music to drive real outcomes on the tennis court, and chooses which artist or music genre to play beforehand based on the type of player she wants to be for the session. But what people fail to realize is how much the playlist can change depending on where she’s playing.

I ask her what happens to her music when she’s preparing to play in New York.

“Honestly, I think in New York sometimes I try to play more calm or chill music before a match — which is not always the case,” she replies — an answer that honestly surprises me.

“I usually like to play rap or something really upbeat,” she continues. “I feel like there’s so much energy here in New York that sometimes I just need to chill and bring my calmness up.”

That’s the New York effect at work again. Coco gets so much energy here that she has to completely alter her music choice. 

“I know when I step on the court, the crowd is gonna be full 100,” she offers. “Where I feel like in other places, maybe the crowd isn’t as loud, so sometimes I feel like I need to pump myself up.”

Music is part of Coco as an athlete, it’s not background noise, it’s part of the preparation, part of her mindset. 

With only a few minutes to spare I asked Gauff to give me five songs from her ultimate US Open pregame playlist. Here’s what Coco Gauff is listening to before she takes the court in New York.