Coco Gauff and Her Mother Candi Walk the 2025 Oscars Red Carpet

Tennis star Coco Gauff served while making her red carpet debut at the 2025 Oscars — and she brought a special date for the big night. 

Gauff, 20, wore a yellow gown adorned with jewels as she posed on the carpet outside Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 2. She finished off the look with her hair in braids and a messy bun, accessorizing with dazzling diamond earrings. 

The 2023 U.S. Open champion brought her mother, Candi Gauff, as her date for the ceremony. Candi — who shares Coco and sons Codey, 17, and Cameron, 11, with her husband, Corey — wore a silver gown and shimmery bracelet as she posed for pictures with her daughter on the red carpet. 

Coco gave a sneak peek at her look via Instagram on Sunday afternoon. She shared a carousel of photos ahead of hitting the carpet. “Moments before arriving to the #oscars ✨💫,” she captioned the post. 

Fellow American tennis player Alison Riske-Amritraj commented, “Beautiful!!! 😍😍,” while Sachia Vickery, another American tennis star, wrote, “Damn ATE 🔥🔥🔥😍😍😍.”

Not to be outdone, rapper Flavor Flav commented with four fire emojis on Coco’s post. 

While her mother accompanied her to the Academy Awards, Coco is rumored to have been dating her boyfriend, Jalen Sera, since 2023. 

On Valentine’s Day, Coco posted a photo via her Instagram Story of a bouquet of roses gifted to her from Sera. “Happy Valentine’s Day, star! I love you. What we have will mean everything to me, forever and always,” Sera wrote on a note that accompanied the flowers. 

Coco and Sera prefer to keep their relationship mostly private, but Coco posted a photo of them together posing with friends at the Camp Flog Gnaw music festival in November 2024. 

In an April 2024 Time magazine profile, Coco vaguely discussed her boyfriend without mentioning his name, calling it her “first real relationship.”

“To just have someone to talk to who is not involved in tennis at all gives me a fresh perspective,” Coco said, noting that she and her boyfriend started dating in spring 2023. 

Coco told Vogue in March 2024 that her boyfriend is “a very nice guy.” 

“He’s in school now,” Coco added. “He’s about to apply for music school. He wants to be an actor and he plays the guitar.”

In fact, Coco’s boyfriend has already successfully won the coveted approval of Candi. 

“My mom always said, if they’re bad in school, they’re probably bad as adults,” Candi told Time in April 2024. “He’s always been a smart, nice kid.”