In sports world, where criticism and doubt can be overwhelming, Coco Gauff stands tall! Proving her prowess once again, she has clinched her career’s second WTA 1000 title at the China Open, overcoming a nine-month title drought (after an ASB Classic victory). The eight singles title winner intends to climb back up to the top 5 and silence her critiques! After boasting an unprecedented 7-0 record of hard-court finals, she said, “That’s pretty cool. I hope somebody else breaks it..” While her result speaks volumes, her renewed confidence shone brightly as she elegantly shut down online trolls with her witty responses!

Defeating Karolina Muchova by 6-1, 6-3 in just one hour and 17 minutes, Gauff became the youngest China Open winner in 14 years and the second American to win there (after Serena Williams). So, after her momentous victory, she shared an Instagram post where she was holding her new golden trophy in front of her own poster that read, “2024 Coco Gauff,” (along with her closed-fisted picture). In that post, she wrote, “sHe OnLy wInS  250s” (a comment perhaps made by a hater previously) and responded to it by writing, “well…. WHOMP WHOMP”!

Without letting her post slide by, another critique took to X and reshared Gauff’s post and wrote, “coco has the mentality of a 5 year old i’m sorry.” But Gauff seemed to be in no mood to let it go unnoticed! With her sassy and elegant style, Gauff wrote, “honestly kids have the best out look on life. they are so positive and creative. so I’ll take it❤️ my goal this tournament was to play and enjoy tennis as much as I did when I was a kid because that’s when life was/is the most fun!”  

To this, when a supportive fan expressed her love, “coco i love u” and advised her to spend her time celebrating and getting “off of Twitter,” Gauff explained her reason with a touch of humor! “I love u too! I’m bored and procrastinating on packing. I don’t even have the app downloaded i use on website to avoid going on it but everyone now and then I like to pop in and see what’s poppin lol.”

After the victory, Gauff’s newfound confidence skyrocketed, and fans saw it with another instance! On her previous TikTok, one of her haters referred to her outfit of that day and commented, “This is why you aren’t winning. Not focused. Group already!” Gauff noticed it all and waited for the right moment. Now that she has passed the hurdle in China, Gauff posted a TikTok video of her kissing the trophy while displaying the same comment on the post! She also lip-synced with the sassy song, “No Reason,” by YunggT3z, displaying her confidence!

While her comments might have surprised a few fans, Gauff has always been vocal about how she handles social media hatred. In an earlier interview, Coco Gauff eloquently expressed her thoughts on the matter!

“Personally, I block,” says Coco Gauff about dealing with social media hatred!

Due to her first-round defeat in the US Open, Caroline Garcia shared how she received several hate messages on social media. Referring to that, Coco Gauff also shared her own thoughts and tactics to handle sharp criticism on social media. She admitted how the hate comments affected her as a kid when she “didn’t know this was normal.” Despite realizing how it is a problem common to all, it did not eliminate her struggles while dealing with the “unpleasant messages” about her appearance and even her family! 

“If you’re already struggling mentally, and then you have people going further, it’s complicated,” she said in a press conference in New York. When asked about her strategies to avoid it, she added, “Personally, I block. I can spend 30 minutes blocking everyone. I don’t mind. I know it’s not much because I’ve blocked many people. They complain that I block for no reason. Yes, that’s how it is. I don’t want to see it, so goodbye.”

Per her, she doesn’t “care” if people get upset due to this action. Despite understanding that even “blocking has its limits,” Coco Gauff tries to protect her own mental peace! And her recent comments further reflect the same!