"I think my mom came up with it": Coco Gauff shares interesting reason behind naming her media company 'IROC'

America’s Coco Gauff knows the art of remaining relevant in the news. The world number three is currently playing in the China Open, where she cemented her spot in the fourth round after beating Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in a hard-fought contest with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Soon after securing a win, Gauff announced a new partnership between her media company, IROC and a creative agency, Religion of Sports. The creative agency was founded by sporting icons Tom Brady and Michael Strahan.

Gauff has now been quoted in a report by Athlon Sports, where she explained the reason behind naming her agency ‘IROC’. According to the 21-year-old, the reason behind naming the agency IROC is that if you spell it backwards, it becomes Cori, which is her real name.

“IROC is my real name spelled backwards,” explained Gauff. “It’s Cori spelled backwards. I think my mom came up with it when I was younger. I played Little Mo. My grandma made visors and named them IROC because it was just my name backwards. My parents always said, ‘Oh, that could be something one day.’ It’s something I’ve had my whole life.”

Gauff then explained the reason behind getting involved in the new partnership with Religion of Sports. Gauff stated that working with an agency as large as Religion of Sports will help her focus entirely on tennis. Gauff also went on to state that her primary objective will be find ways to keep her complete focus on tennis activities.

“As far as Religion of Sports, I’m going to be involved obviously in things that I do,” said Gauff. “But I think partnering with them is helping me keep my focus onto tennis and allowing them to put my vision out there without me being so much on hand. The focus will always be on tennis. The partnership was mainly to keep that focus instead of maybe just trying to do it on my own.”

Overall, Gauff is having an interesting season. The 21-year-old has featured in 51 matches across different competitions and won 38 of them. Seven of those wins came in her winning French Open campaign, where she defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the final with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Interestingly, Roland Garros remains the only title Gauff has won this year in the singles category.

She has played in two more finals, but on both occasions, she came second-best. At the Madrid Open, Gauff lost to Sabalenka in the final with a score of 6-3, 7-6. Later at the Rome Open, Gauff lost to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. Her most recent outing before coming to Beijing was at the US Open, where she was knocked out after losing in the fourth round to the former world number one Naomi Osaka in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2.

Gauff’s next round opponent at the China Open will be Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. The 28-year-old defeated Priscilla Hon in the third round with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. It will be the sixth meeting between the two players in professional tennis. In the previous five meetings, Gauff had a slight advantage with three wins and two defeats. Their most recent meeting came in the fourth round of the Madrid Open earlier this year, where Gauff came out on top in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. In 2025, the two players have faced off on three occasions, with Gauff coming out on top on two occasions. Her other win came in the fourth round of the Australian Open, where Gauff came out on top with a score of 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.