Miami Open: ‘Unrealistic’ Expectations Leave Coco Gauff No Choice but to Take a Dig at Tournament Organizers

The Miami Open tournament is in full force. Given the windy and rainy conditions of the Magic City, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the force is quite literally present in the game as the weather is creating problems for the professionals. One among these stars is the former US Open champion, Coco Gauff, who recently criticized the tournament organizers for their mismanagement in scheduling the matches.

Traveling from her Florida home to attend the Miami Open 2024 tournament, Gauff revealed how challenging the situation is proving to be at the game. Despite her dedication, the “weird” food timings have added obstacles to the already testing playing conditions.

Gauff delves deeper into organizers’ ‘unrealistic’ match scheduling at the Miami Open and players’ problems

Miami weather hasn’t really been merciful. The evidence of the same was provided when fans spotted Aryna Sabalenka missing out on serving her balls well due to the heavy wind in the game. Shedding light on a similar issue, in a recent press conference, America’s rising star in tennis Coco Gauff was asked about how early she left her Florida home to reach Miami for the tournament.

The interviewer also asked Coco Gauff how long she had to wait because of the bad Miami weather. In her response, the 20-year-old called out the tournament’s organizers and their unrealistic match scheduling. Gauff said,“Yeah, so I came as normal schedule, even I knew it was going to rain. Shortened my warm-up before I hit so I could get a chance to hit. I did hit 15 minutes at, like, 9 in the morning.”

She further added how that still did not make a difference as the weather permitted the play to be commenced a lot later. Gauff added, “Don’t know if that made a difference because we played so much later. Yeah, I was just waiting around, talked to some folks, played some games, read. It felt like a long wait.”

Coco Gauff’s response also highlighted the mismanagement at the Miami Open tournament since she spoke about not being able to eat due to the scheduling. Gauff further remarked, “I was kind of not sure when to eat. Also the tournament was giving us unrealistic ‘not before’ times, so that felt a little bit weird, too.” Despite all the challenges, former US Open champion Coco Gauff still managed to bag an amazing victory at the Miami Open 2024 tournament.

Coco Gauff embarks on her Miami Open 2024 venture with a great victory

This American rising star of tennis defeated Nadia Podoroska in the debut match of the tournament. She received much applause from her fans post-victory. Gauff did well at the Indian Wells tournament this season. However, after exiting at the semifinals, Gauff wished to perform better in Miami, since she calls it her home. Gauff defeated Podoroska by 6-1 and 6-2 and bagged her entry to the championship’s third round.

Before the tournament, Coco Gauff took part in a Q&A session, where she was asked about what she wanted to change about herself. To this, she replied, “I guess I would just tell myself just to relax a little bit more. You know, that’s probably going to be the thing I need to tell myself my whole life. So just relax and enjoy the ride.”

Despite her amazing performance, Coco Gauff’s revelation speaks about the challenges of the tennis players on the tours. The difficulties faced by the professionals as they battle more than just their opponent on the court and how crucial the playing conditions are during a match.

Read more: Miami Open: Coco Gauff Describes Nearly Every Sibling Relationship Ever With a Dig at 10-Year-Old Brother Cameron