America’s young tennis star Coco Gauff clarified that she was not talking about Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko when she commented that some players like to call the lines a lot more in practice games. The 20-year-old is in London to participate in the third Grand Slam of the year. Wimbledon 2024 began on Monday, and players from all over the world are participating to secure the ultimate prize.
Gauff recently passed a comment about how some players act during practice games ahead of the mega-event but clarified that she was not talking about Ostapenko as she was her favourite player to practice with.
“I’m not gonna say who, but we had a conversation about how some players on tour do like to call the lines a little bit too much in practice,” she said, laughing. “We were having a laugh out of that. It’s not anybody that you’d think. I know people are gonna probably think and say, ‘Oh, that maybe Ostapenko’ because she does that. But she’s actually one of my favorite people to practice with.”
Gauff is coming into the mega-event as one of the favourites to lift the title. She is seeded number two after becoming the second-ranked player in the WTA rankings after replacing Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka. She was very impressive in her most recent appearance at a major event, which was during the French Open, where her journey finally came to an end as she lost in the semifinal to the current world number one Poland’s Iga Swiatek in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4.
Interestingly, Gauff does not have a great record at Wimbledon, where she has never played in the quarterfinal or beyond. Her best record at London was playing in the fourth round in 2019 and 2021, and on both occasions, she ended up on the losing side.
“I was trying to live up to what other people wanted for me.”
Tennis champion Coco Gauff is playing for herself now https://t.co/XcsZ8WLWE1 pic.twitter.com/r6fbYnphCk
— TIME (@TIME) April 24, 2024