Coco Gauff's influence shines bright as friend Jalen Sera takes up tennis, flaunting the American's racket

Inspired by his close friend Coco Gauff, Jalen Sera has taken to tennis and the American flaunted Gauff’s signature Head racket as he stepped onto the court. Gauff and Sera have been close friends for a while now and often comment on each other’s social media posts.

Gauff hasn’t begun the season in the best manner as she’s made a string of early losses in her three tournaments so far. She came into 2025 after winning the WTA Finals and leading Team USA to the United Cup title, but the US Open champion has endured a tough start to the new year.

Seeded third at the Australian Open, Gauff was ousted in the quarterfinals by Paula Badosa in straight sets. That was followed by two disappointing first-round exits at the Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships. Seeded third in both competitions, she lost to Marta Kostyuk in Doha and was later defeated by fellow American McCartney Kessler in Dubai.

The World No. 3 will hope to find her groove again and will find motivation in the fact that her close friend Sera has taken up tennis now. Gauff and Sera have been the closest of friends and the latter recently dropped an adorable two-word reaction on her latest mirror selfie.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Sera posted a story that showed him holding Gauff’s signature racket with the Canadian band Badbadnotgood’s song "Sunday Afternoon’s Dream" playing in the background.

Screengrab of Jalen Sera's Instagram story. Source: Instagram @jalensera

Sera had, in fact, commented even on Gauff’s post celebrating her United Cup win in January last year.

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Coco Gauff runs into brother Codey at a traffic light

Coco Gauff recently shared a funny moment when he ran into her younger brother Codey at a traffic light. Gauff was waiting at a red light and to her utter surprise, she noticed a familiar face in the vehicle beside her. It was her brother Codey, who is a baseball player and trained at the Elite Squad Academy.

Gauff posted the funny update on her Instagram story and captioned it:

“When your brother pulls up on you at a red light lol @codeygauff"

Coco Gauff with brother Codey - Source: Instagram (@cocogauff)

Gauff is the eldest of three siblings and has two younger brothers - Codey and Cameron. Their parents were former sportspersons themselves and she has often spoken about the importance of her family’s support in her tennis career. They are often captured cheering her on from the sidelines at major tournaments.