Coco Gauff expressed her thoughts on Sunday about a now-deleted USTA social media post, which aimed to hype American players at the Australian Open but ended up drawing criticism for its portrayal. Gauff, who breezed into the second round with a solid 6-3, 6-0 victory on Monday over Anna Karolina Schmiedlov, shared that her initial reaction to the post was more humorous than serious.
The USTA post, which depicted players in a style reminiscent of the Wild Thornberrys cartoon, didn’t sit well with the athletes. Gauff’s Instagram story response was frank: “Worst thing I’ve ever seen. Like a caricature artist decided to make us all look like hideous looking people. The art style is cool for a cartoon show but not for a hype post. Foul.”
However, speaking on Monday, the 19-year-old clarified that her comments were made in jest.
“People thought I was being serious, that I was actually mad with it,” she said, as reported by Simon Cambers of the Associated Press. “And I realize TikTok humor is very different than Twitter. I was like, no, I wasn’t mad. We looked awful (smiling) … Then, yeah, I saw on Twitter people thought I was serious, but I wasn’t. It was all in jokes.”
Spending most of that day in her room, Gauff had ample time to engage with the post and the reactions it spawned.
“I was just bored and commenting and making fun of it, because everybody else was making fun of us, how bad we looked,” she said.
An attempt by Gauff to reach out to the USTA was met with silence.
“I did DM the USTA account and I was, like, what was the thought process behind this, as a joke,” Gauff said. “They never responded. I got left on read by USTA, which sucks. But, you know, it is what it is.”
Gauff mentioned that her fellow American players, including Ben Shelton and Jessica Pegula, also shared their light-hearted views on the post. The group found humor in each other’s caricatures, particularly those of Shelton and Sebi Korda.
“We were just laughing at each person, we were laughing at Sebi (Korda)’s, I think Ben and Sebi had the worst ones.” Gauff said. “I know it was from a cartoon, and the artist did great with the cartoon. I just don’t know if I want myself drawn as that art style … but we did not look good at all.”
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