The ESPYs are meant to celebrate the best in sports, but this time, the celebration has taken an unexpected turn. Imagine winning one of the most prestigious awards only to ignite a controversy. It would sting anyone, wouldn’t it? This is precisely the predicament American tennis star Coco Gauff finds herself in. Despite being recognized for her exceptional skills, she’s now facing backlash from fans, and at the center of it all is the ESPY Awards 2024.

Hosted by tennis legend Serena Williams, the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards  were held on July 11 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Several top players were nominated for prestigious awards. But eventually, there can be just one winner. From the WTA Circuit, it was Iga Swiatek who was nominated along with Gauff for the Best Tennis Player award. On the men’s side, it was Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic who were nominated for the honor.

Looking at the results, the tennis community seemed to have sided with the 20-year-old Gauff who won the title for the first time, leaving behind some high-ranked players. Once the results were announced, fans took to the microblogging platform X to express their unhappiness over the decision. Taking to X, one user wrote, “Coco Gauff won the ESPYS best tennis player over Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz AND Novak Djokovic. You can’t be serious about this.” 

Remember, the organizers merged the women and men categories only last year, which used to be different till 2022. However, Coco, who received the highest vote to emerge victorious, has failed to delight several fans, who alleged the organizers of ‘insult’ and bias towards other players.

‘You can’t be serious…’ Coco Gauff’s victory seems undigestible for fans

As soon as this tweet went viral, several other fans joined the fray to express similar sentiments. Responding to the tweet, a user wrote, “Carlos fans… We have lost another voting award yet again. Embarrassing for us.” Interestingly, Carlos Alcaraz was nominated for the award even last year but he failed to bag the same back then as well and lost it to the Serbian legend. Another user claimed the event to be biased towards Gauff. 

Demonstrating their anger, a user wrote, “why even they nominated other players if it was meant to be for Gauff from the first moment ? sounds like an insult to me that they nominated the “actual” best player in this category, just to lose…” Gauff was nominated alongside Swiatek, Djokovic, and Alcaraz. All three players have more Grand Slam titles than the American star (5, 24, and 3 respectively as against Coco’s 1 slam). In fact, Swiatek is placed atop the WTA rankings and is several thousand points above Gauff. Another user highlighted the nationality bias to add to the chaos. 

“They just giving it to American lol pathetic award.” The ESPY awards have been held every year since 1993. Interestingly, before being merged, the American players were given this award on the men’s side 11 times, which is secondary to none. The numbers were even higher on the female side with the award being handed over to them 16 times. Reiterating the same, another use further claimed bias.

“Nothing against coco but that’s ridiculous 🤡 it seems like being American or British matters more in this awards than actually being the best.” However, Emma Raducanu was the only British player to have bagged the best female tennis player award in 2022, before the category was merged.

Another user simply highlighted the overconfidence that the American star might end up being a victim of if given excessive limelight. “Height of it. She is getting over-hyped. That’s not going to get her anywhere near to the top.” 

For Coco Gauff, the award is definitely not free from controversies. However, what the tennis star would be probably focusing on is celebrating her success rather than engaging in controversies.