American Coco Gauff holds special training session in South Florida with cousin, a year after his coma recovery 

American tennis star Coco Gauff’s training sessions are in full swing ahead of her eagerly anticipated 2023 season. The former World No. 4’s latest session was a special one as she joined her cousin Duriel Odom in celebrating his one-year anniversary since recovering from a coma, which he suffered due to a brain hemorrhage.

Gauff, who resides in Florida, trained with Mike Barwis at the Barwis Performance Center in Deerfield Beach, South Florida on Monday. She shared the news with her fans on social media while acknowledging her cousin’s milestone.

"Monday grind day with fam," the 18-year-old shared on Instagram.

Coco Gauff on Instagram

The Performance Center’s social media page also shared their excitement at having the 2022 French Open finalist in the house.

"Today was a very special day for our Barwis Family! Today marks a year since Duriel woke up from his coma and began recovery. He has been making incredible progress over this past year, always ready for more work! His cousin, Coco Gauff was also in for a training session with Mike, making for a great family training session!" the post read.

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Coco Gauff to kick-off her 2023 season in Auckland, New Zealand

Coco Gauff will participate at the 2023 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand

Coco Gauff, who had a tremendous 2022 season, is gearing up to visit Auckland, New Zealand for her first tournament of 2023. The World No. 7 will contest the WTA 250 ASB Classic as the top seed in pursuit of her third career title in singles.

The Auckland event will be held from January 2-8 and will return after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gauff, who made the second round of the tournament in 2020, expressed that she was elated to return to the city and was looking forward to participating in "one of her favorite tournaments".

"It was probably one of my favorite tournaments that I’ve ever played and Auckland is such a beautiful city and I am excited to go back," Gauff said, adding "I chose to return because I love the tournament so much. I definitely missed it with COVID and I wasn’t sure they were going to bring it back."

The ASB Classic is set to be a star-studded event with the likes of former US Open champions Emma Raducanu and Sloane Stephens, as well as 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin confirming their participation at the tournament. 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez is also set to commence her season with a display in Auckland.