Speaking during her most recent press conference at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, Coco Gauff revealed that some players are ‘cheating’ in practices.
Despite being one of the youngest players on the WTA Tour, Gauff has been around for many years. The American has been a professional since 2019, making her one of the most experienced players in the Top 10.
As such a player, the American has basically seen it all. She’s won a Grand Slam, lost in a final, was number one in doubles, and had countless practices with various types of players.
After her first-round win at Wimbledon, she was asked about ‘cheating’ in practices and shared some really funny stories.
“I had a conversation with someone, I’m not gonna say who, we had a conversation about how some players on tour like to call the lines a little bit too much in practice.”
“We were having a laugh out of that. There are some girls. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, that will do it. For me I don’t really take any offense.”
“A lot of times it’s probably girls who were maybe cheaters in juniors and they just have that habit most of the time I try to practice with people who don’t do that. I’m not gonna question the girl. I’m not gonna be like ‘Hey that was kind of in.’ I’ll just be like whatever and move on.”
One player that Gauff mentioned by name was Jelena Ostapenko. She’s quite famous for questioning many calls during official matches, including those coming from the line-calling system, which she famously admitted to not trusting.
However, the young American didn’t mention her in a negative way, as Gauff loves to practice with Ostapenko, and she’s not one of the players that she had in mind when sharing the story.
“For me, if it’s close, it can be in or out. But there are people that will deliberately call the ball that’s like inside of the line. It’s not anyone you’d think. I know people are gonna think ‘oh maybe it’s Ostapenko’ because she does that.”
“But she’s actually one of my favorite people to practice with. She’s just funny. I think she genuinely thinks her ball is in but she doesn’t do it in practice. It’s definitely other people.”