Coco Gauff, the American tennis professional, has already made her name in WTA. She debuted in the year 2018 and made her way to the WTA’s top 100 and claimed the ranking of World No. 15 in just four years.
Further, she is the youngest player in the top 100 and currently is participating in the French Open. However, during her match against the 38-year-old Rebecca Marino for a ticket to the second round, something unpleasant happened.
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Coco Gauff Charged With the Coaching Violation
Though Gauff claimed the first round by thrashing the Canadian in straight sets 7-5, 6-0, she was called out for getting tips from her father during the second set. Umpire Marijana Veljovic gave Coco a soft coaching warning, telling her to tell her father to stop signaling to her.
To which she replied, “We don’t have any signals, so I don’t know what you want me to tell him. I’m not receiving coaching, so I don’t know what you want me to do,” And Veljovic responded by saying, “We’ll talk about it later.”
Ump Marijana Veljovic gives Coco Gauff a soft coaching warning, telling her to tell her father to stop signaling to her.
Gauff baffled: "We don't have any signals, so I don't know what you want me to tell him…I'm not receiving coaching, so I don't know what you want me to do"
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) May 22, 2022
Thereafter, she calmed her nerves and approached the umpire’s chair for a calm discussion and clarified that her dad was just clapping and cheering for her, nothing else. “Literally every match since I was 8 years old don’t talk to me in the match. I know you’re not accusing me of anything. I’m just letting you know that it’s the first time a ref has said this to me,” she confessed.
a player that can calming explain her point of view to an umpire without insulting her. very refreshing from coco https://t.co/96qoELgl6F
— enrico maria riva (@enricomariariva) May 22, 2022
Read more: ‘Prove Them Wrong’- Coco Gauff Has a Message for Doubters in Latest New Balance Campaign
Gauff in the Clay Up Till Now
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Gauff, after having a decent hard court season, rallied towards clay. Though she faced the first round exit in the Stuttgart Open. Thereafter, the 18-year-old gathered herself and made a run till the last 16 of Madrid Open and Italian Open. In fact, she defeated the former World No.1 Angelique Kerber in straight sets in the very first round of Italian Open. However, the Greek tennis professional Maria Sakkari got the better of her in the fourth round, thus making her pack her bags.
Further in doubles, she made a run till the finals of Stuttgart Open and played alongside fellow American tennis ace Jessica Pegula to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.
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Till now she has only managed to climb up to the last 16 in clay-based tournaments. Will she be able to make it to the quarterfinals of the ongoing French Open?
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