?I Was Crying the Whole Time..?- Having Blocked Out Embarrassing Us Open Incident, Coco Gauff Gets Real About Epochal Moment With Naomi Osaka

For Coco Gauff, 2019 was a monumental year. She announced herself on the WTA tour by trumping Venus Williams at Wimbledon. She followed it up with a Round 3 appearance at the US Open where she fell to Naomi Osaka. Despite the crushing defeat, she managed to make a significant mark at the Flushing Meadows with an on-court interview.

In tennis, it is customary for the winning player to feature in a short on-court interview after the match. Unless it is a final of a tournament, the losing players directly give their thoughts in the post-match press conference. However, Naomi Osaka graciously invited Gauff to do a short interview despite losing the match.

Coco Gauff recalls her US Open 2019 on-court interview

It was Gauff’s first appearance at her home Slam. The crowd had plenty of expectations from her after her historic Wimbledon win over Venus. However, the then-World Number 1 was too good for the 15-year-old breakout novice. Shattered after a 6-3,?6-0 defeat, Gauff was in tears. Osaka then decided that it would be great for her to speak on the court in the presence of the crowd since it was an important moment playing in New York.

Now, after her Round of 16 victory at the ongoing Citi Open, Gauff was once again asked about the 2019 US Open incident. However, World No. 7 Gauff could not recollect much from that day. She said, “It feels like a blur in a way. I think the human brain has things of blocking out things that you don’t want to remember (smiling). Even though it was a very sweet moment, I was crying the whole time.”

At first, Gauff did not really remember much about the interview. However, she then went on to acknowledge Osaka’s gesture. She added, “But, I think that it was a beautiful moment in sports. Especially with Naomi, everything that she was doing.”

Interestingly, something similar happened recently with Coco on the other side this time. The picture of grace, Gauff followed in Osaka’s footsteps like all those years ago, after a match with a friend.

READ MORE: ?They Speak the Same Language?- Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff Tipped to Be Flag-Bearers for Women?s Tennis as Andy Murray?s Mother Makes Stunning Confession

Gauff supports Baptiste in the on-court interview

After making it to the quarter-finals of the Citi Open, Gauff did not speak much about herself in the interview. She based it around her friend Hailey Baptiste as the duo locked horns for the first time, despite being friends for about ten years. Like Naomi, she too was elated that both of them had made it. Gauff also focused on the lack of representation and how she wishes to raise awareness by taking on the likes of Baptiste in such high-profile battles.

Do you think more players should be inspired by the likes of Osaka and Gauff to extend their support to lower-ranked players? Let us know in the comments.

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