Coco Gauff is currently participating in the Middle East swing and will soon begin her campaign at the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships. Amid her preparations for the WTA 1000 hard court tournament, the former World No. 2 sent a heartwarming gift to her mother, Candi Gauff, for Valentine’s Day.
The 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships are scheduled to take place from February 15 to February 21, 2026. The matches will be held on outdoor hard courts at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Coco Gauff Sends Mother Candi a Heartwarming Gift on Valentine’s Day
Before heading to Dubai, Gauff competed in the 2026 Qatar Open, where she was the fourth seed. The American began her campaign in the second round after receiving a first-round bye and lost her opening match to lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 4-6, 2-6.
Before her campaign in Qatar, Gauff reached the quarterfinals at the 2026 Australian Open, losing to Elina Svitolina.
This year, Gauff is seeded third at the Dubai Tennis Championships and will start her campaign in the second round after receiving another first-round bye. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion’s best result at the tournament came in 2023 when she reached the semifinals before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up, Iga Świątek.
In a sweet gesture ahead of her first match in Dubai this year, Gauff sent her mother, Candi, a box of beautifully decorated chocolate-covered strawberries. Candi shared a picture of the gift and expressed her gratitude to her daughter.
“@cocogauff thank you! ❤️ ❤️,” Candi Gauff captioned her Instagram story.
In her opening match at the 2026 Dubai Tennis Championships, Gauff will face the winner of the first-round match between Jeļena Ostapenko and Anna Kalinskaya.
Gauff and Ostapenko have met three times on the WTA Tour, with the former World No. 2 winning two of those encounters. Their most recent match was in the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open, where Gauff won 6-0, 6-2. The American then went on to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in the final, winning her first Grand Slam singles title.
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On the other hand, Gauff and Kalinskaya have faced each other once before on the WTA Tour, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, which the Russian won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
The winner of the second-round match between the two-time singles Grand Slam champion and either Ostapenko or Kalinskaya will advance to face the 14th seed, Emma Navarro, qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Elise Mertens, or Marie Bouzkova in the third round of the tournament.