Recently, at the Italian Open, Coco Gauff brought up a question Andy Murray was asked in 2019 in the Wimbledon post-match press conference about American Sam Querry being the last American to advance to the semifinals of the grass-court major.
Murray has excelled as a player both on and off the court. He has three Grand Slam victories, is ranked No. 1 on the ATP tour, and has won two gold medals at the Olympics. Defending someone when he believes it to be an implication of inequality does not bother him.
Murray promptly informed the reporter that he had meant to say “American man.” Contrary to what was reported, American women had participated in the Wimbledon semifinals earlier. Murray took issue with the suggestion that merely calling someone “American” implied they were a men’s player, even though many others may have chosen to ignore the matter.
In her press conference, Gauff said of Murray’s answer: “My favourite video of Murray is at the press conference in Wimbledon, where he was, like, the first male player. Honestly, it happens a lot in tennis where people say a stat, especially with the guys. I’ll be like, Well, I did it. I think for what he’s done with the women’s game, he and his mother as well have done a lot. I would say he’s one of the first male players to speak up about it.”
#CocoGauff praises Andy Murray for helping when few others would https://t.co/75TJ6j8zak
— Lee Vowell (@LeeVowell) May 13, 2024
Gauff in Rome, ranking, and results in 2024
Currently ranked no.3 (career-high), Gauff achieved an overall 24-7 win-loss record in 2024. Coco is currently having a run in Rome where she toppled the world no.55 Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-3, the world no.68 Jaqueline Cristian 6-1 0-6 6-3 and the world no.126 Paula Badosa Gibert 5-7 6-4 6-1.
Coco Gauff will take on the world no.7 Qinwen Zheng in the quarter on Tuesday at 8:30 pm on CENTER COURT. In the past, they have never played each other so far in top competitions.
The American clinched 1 title in 2024 in Auckland.
The American won 7 titles in her career: 5 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Andy Murray in 2024
Ranked no.77, Andy played his last match on the 24th of March when he surrendered to world no.45 Tomas Machac 5-7 7-5 7-6(5) in the 3rd round in Miami (draw).
This year Andy owns a 5-8 win-loss record.
The Brit won 46 titles in his career: 20 on hard courts, 3 on clay courts, 14 on indoor courts, 1 on carpet courts and 8 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
He is also scheduled to play in Geneva (Gonet Geneva Open) on the 19th of May and French Open (French Open) on the 26th of May.