Coco Gauff Compares Her Lucky Hat to LeBron James’ Mask After Reaching Miami Final: “Don’t Like It At All”

Coco Gauff will be locking horns with Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open final.

Coco Gauff Compares Her Lucky Hat to LeBron James’ Mask After Reaching Miami Final: “Don’t Like It At All”

LeBron James, Coco Gauff (Image via WSJ, X-Advantage Tennis)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff reached the Miami Open final for the first time while wearing a New Balance hat.
  • She initially considered skipping the tournament due to a nerve-related issue but decided to compete.
  • Gauff will face World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final, with a tied head-to-head record of 6-6.

The hat is doing its magic in Miami, and Coco Gauff can’t be happier. Gauff has been donning the same New Balance hat while playing, and she has now reached the final for the first time in her home tournament.

If it had not been her home tournament, the 22-year-old would’ve skipped it. A nerve-related issue forced her to give Alexandra Eala a walkover in the third round at Indian Wells, and after an MRI, her team deemed it best for her to skip the Miami WTA 1000 event.

Gauff chose to go against their wishes and competed, though she admitted in a press conference that she had no expectations. On Thursday (March 26), she breezed past Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-1 in what was also her first semifinal in Miami. After the match, she sat for an interview with Tennis Channel and revealed the reason behind donning the hat and compared it to the mask LeBron James used to wear once to protect his nose.

I don’t even know because I actually don’t like it at all. Well, it started because I was practicing with it because I didn’t feel like doing my hair that day, and then I just kept with it. And then I won my first round. I was like, ‘Well, I have to keep this.’ I’m really someone who keeps the same look the whole tournament. But I don’t think it’s coming back, to be honest. I don’t like it. And the crazy thing is, I literally have one hat, so I’ve been washing it every day because New Balance never thought to send me hats, because I don’t wear hats, and I told them to stop sending me hats, actually.

Before this year, Gauff had never progressed to the quarterfinals in Miami. She is chasing her fourth WTA 1000 singles title, last winning a title of this level at the 2025 Wuhan Open, and has yet to win another title since that triumph.

But I think this is one and done. I just don’t like it. But you know, it got the job done this week… No. If I win this tournament, then I’ll just go. Maybe this can be, you know, how they have like LeBron [James] with the mask, and it could just be Coco with the hat and just tired and left like that.

Gauff will also be playing her first final of the season. Her victory over Muchova took her to the third spot in the live rankings, while six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek dropped to the fourth round spot.

Coco Gauff to face Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open final

Coco Gauff has to overcome a huge obstacle to end her title drought, for she will be up against none other than World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Miami Open final. The Belarusian, also the defending champion, knocked out Elena Rybakina, improving her head record to 10-7.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)

Against Gauff, Sabalenka holds a 6-6 tie in the head-to-head matchups, but won their last meeting, in the round robin stage of last year’s WTA Finals. Sabalenka is not only bidding to defend her title but also bidding to complete the Sunshine Double.

In Indian Wells, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion finally took her revenge on the Kazakh ace with a three-set win in the final. Sabalenka is chasing her third title of the season. Prior to the WTA 1000 triumph in the California desert, the 27-year-old defended her Brisbane International crown by defeating Marta Kostyuk.

Rybakina then dashed Sabalenka’s hope of winning her third Australian Open title in the latter’s fourth consecutive final in the tournament. Last year, in the two American WTA 1000 events, Sabalenka lost to Mirra Andreeva in the Indian Wells final, then defeated Jessica Pegula in the Miami final.

Also read: Former World No.1 Criticizes Mirra Andreeva for failing to handle Pressure Following Recent Results