Coco Gauff has dismissed claims that she was genuinely upset by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) cartoon that depicted American players as disgusting creatures.
The USTA shared a cartoon on social media to mark the opening of the 2024 Australian Open, which was based on the animated series ‘The Wild Thornberrys’.
Gauff was shown in the cartoon alongside two other American female athletes, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, and four male athletes: Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Tommy Paul.
Gauff wrote in an Instagram story: “The worst thing I’ve ever seen. Like a caricature artist, I 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, the cartoon quickly vanished from the USTA’s Instagram and X profiles. Gauff refuted claims that her remarks at the Australian Open, where she won the first round on Monday, had an undertone of anger.
She added: “Oh, people thought I was being serious, that I was mad with it? I realise TikTok humour is very different from Twitter. I saw somebody post, like, There’s no way she’s that upset over it. I was like, no, I wasn’t mad. We looked awful.”
Gauff at the Australian Open, ranking, and results in 2024
Now the world no. 4
, the American achieved a composed 7-0 record in 2024. The American is participating at the Australian Open, where she bested world No. 68. Anna Schmiedlova 6-3 6-0 and the world no. 43 Caroline Dolehide 7-62 6-2.Coco Gauff will play world no. 82 Alycia Parks in the 3rd round on Friday at 3:00 pm at Margaret Court Arena. In the past, they have never played each other so far in top tournaments.
Gauff has won one title in 2024 in Auckland.
Coco won seven titles in her career: five on hard courts, one on clay courts and one on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
psurname=”Gauff” tournament_name=”Australian Open – Melbourne” tour_city=”Australian Open” rank_t=”4″] psurname=”Gauff” tournament_name=”Australian Open – Melbourne” tour_city=”Australian Open” rank_t=”4″]