Following a tough campaign at the Madrid Open, Coco Gauff found herself fighting a different kind of battle off the court. After the Round of 16 loss to Linda Nosková, sports bettors flooded her social media DMs with racist abuse. But instead of letting the gamblers ruin her day, Gauff took it to TikTok to call them out with a hilarious troll.
Coco Gauff Fires Back at ‘Anonymous’ Racist Gamblers Harassing Her After Madrid Open
Shortly after Gauff was knocked out of the clay-court tournament in Spain by 13th seed Nosková, bettors, frustrated over losing their wagers on her match, left racist messages in her social media comments and direct messages.
In response, Gauff uploaded a TikTok video with a direct caption: “@angry gamblers saying racist things on my IG/comments hiding behind anonymous accounts.”
Gauff used a track by rapper Young M.A as her background audio, lip-syncing to these lyrics: “Yeah they hate, but they broke though / And when it’s time to pop they a no-show (Where they at?)”
Throughout her career so far, Gauff has had to face racism, where a simple tournament loss triggers an avalanche of racial slurs and derogatory comments. Players like Sloane Stephens and Serena Williams have long detailed the exact same hatred from fans following defeats. However, the American has consistently used her platform to condemn racial injustice and inequality, not letting them get to her head.
The world No. 3’s Madrid Open campaign this year was far from easy. A stomach virus had been tearing through the locker room, affecting many, including Iga Świątek, Madison Keys, Marin Čilić, and Liudmila Samsonova. Gauff was also hit hard during her third-round match against Sorana Cirstea. She became so ill that she suddenly vomited on the court, yet she still found a way to win, although she lost in the next round.
Talking about the illness, she admitted, “I think I got a little cocky because I’ve been at tournaments where there were viruses and I never got it. I saw it going around, I was like, ‘I’m not going to get it.’ And then here I am. I think it’s hard because you don’t know who’s sick, who’s not.”
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“I do a good job at using hand sanitiser and washing my hands and wiping my [training] mats and stuff before I use them. But sometimes some things are just hard to avoid when you’re all in a big building like this and have to pass each other and use the same equipment. Hopefully everybody’s all good by Rome,” Gauff added.
The next challenge for Gauff is the Rome Masters, ahead of her defense of the Roland Garros title.
