- Wimbledon Draws and Order Of Play for Tuesday, July 9, 2024
- Final spot up for grabs in wide-open bottom half of Wimbledon women’s draw
- Alcaraz, Sinner advance to Wimbledon quarterfinals with flair
- Ricky’s picks for Day 8 at Wimbledon, including Fritz and Djokovic
- Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Retirement or as Alix Ramsay says “A Muzza Tribute”
- Emma Raducanu Withdraws From Mixed Doubles, Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Career Done
- Ricky’s picks for Day 7 at Wimbledon, including Sinner and Alcaraz
- Players pay tribute to Murray, will Wimbledon torch be passed to Raducanu?
- First week of Wimbledon filled with five-setters as Alcaraz overcomes Tiafoe
- Wimbledon Draws and Order Of Play for Saturday, July 6, 2024
- Ricky’s picks for Day 6 at Wimbledon:
- Ricky’s picks for Day 5 at Wimbledon, including Dimitrov vs. Monfils
- Emma Raducanu, Andy Murray will Play Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Together
- Paul among eight winners in five sets on wild day at Wimbledon
Teen Tennis Phenom • You Cannot Stop Coco Gauff, We All See The Greatness There
- Updated: September 1, 2019
By Ricky Dimon
Coco Gauff may have lost in singles at the U.S. Open on Saturday night, but there is no stopping her from continuing to steal the headlines.
Gauff made a quick exit at the hands of defending champion and world No. 1 Naomi Osaka in their highly-anticipated third-round showdown. If you thought that meant the 15-year-old would quickly leave the court and the tennis center not to be seen again at the 2019 U.S. Open, you thought wrong.
After all, Osaka had other ideas.
Following her 6-3, 6-0 victory, the two-time Grand Slam champion from Japan invited Gauff to join her for the post-match interview. Actually, it was more like she made Gauff join her.
“She did amazing,” the fast-rising American said of Osaka. “And I’m going to learn a lot from this match. She’s been so sweet to me, so thank you for this.”
“The fact that both of us made it and we’re both still working as hard as we can, I think it’s amazing,” Osaka said, directed at Gauff’s parents. “You guys raised an amazing player.”
“She told me it’s better than crying in the shower,” Gauff said afterward. “After the match, I think she just proved that she’s a true athlete. For me, the definition of an athlete is someone who on the court treats you like your worst enemy, but off the court can be your best friend. I think that’s what she did tonight.”
That night was not the end of the U.S. Open road for the Atlanta native, as she teamed up with Caty McNally for doubles on Sunday afternoon. The recent Washington, D.C. champions treated an absolutely packed Louis Armstrong Stadium to a 6-3, 7-6(9) win over No. 9 seeds Kveta Peschke and Nicole Melichar.
“Playing on Louis Armstrong with a packed crowd, it makes us want to go out there and play again so badly,” McNally commented. “I could go out right now again and play because it was so much fun and such an awesome atmosphere to play in.”
“Same for me,” Gauff agreed. “Yeah, playing on Armstrong was really cool, and I’m glad that it was actually a lot of people. I think in general, just whether singles or doubles, we’re going to come here to compete and win. I think that’s what both of us prepared for in our matches whether individual or together.”
Both McNally–who pushed Serena Williams to three sets in the singles second round–and Gauff have done it all this week. They’ve competed. They’ve won. They’ve lost. And they’ve done it all while making positive, feel-good headlines for tennis.