When Aryna Sabalenka, the favorite at Wimbledon this year, withdrew due to injury, Coco Gauff took her place. The Belarusian was already giving signs of being unwell and ultimately announced her exit due to a shoulder issue. While it gave her American rival a slight edge on her path to the title, a Polish bureaucrat is questioning the seemingly too easy path for Gauff.

Soon after the shocking updates of a number of player withdrawals, including Victoria Azarenka and Ekaterina Alexandrova, Anna Zofia Niezgodzka stepped in to mock the levels of competition Gauff would go through. “Her draw looks like a WTA 125 at best. Yes, I know it’s not her ‘fault’, but we have to admit she is playing scrubs,” she wrote.

According to the politician’s comment, Gauff now has better chances than ever to win since some of her notable rivals are not playing. The third seed Aryna Sabalenka, who has made it to the semi-finals of the same event twice, pulled out from Wimbledon 2024 even before starting her first match due to a shoulder injury suffered during a training session.

Besides her, Victoria Azarenka also bowed out of Wimbledon because of an injured shoulder. She was scheduled to play Sloane Stephens in the first round but decided to quit just moments before her match was set to commence. Nevertheless, the tennis community is angry at Niezgodzka’s suggestion that Gauff might win because she doesn’t have anyone to challenge her.

One fan asked who the politician was expecting the young American to face. To which she ridiculed the US Open champion saying, “Check the draw and see which players others have.”

While others might have harsh things to say about Coco Gauff, she herself expressed concerns about her rival’s wellbeing. Soon after the update of Aryna Sabalenka’s exit came up, the 20-year-old came forward to make it clear that her presence would be missed. “It is unfortunate that she had to pull out. She’s always a contender in every slam and every surface. She’s such a competitor. She’s a nice person,” Gauff said.

There’s always a line of positive as well as negative comments. While Coco Gauff was also exposed to both of them, she decided to ignore the latter ones and therefore announced a new strategy that she has adopted.

Coco Gauff explains how “the world can make you feel” bitter

Coco Gauff recently secured a remarkable win over her second-round rival Anca Todoni. Because of being in a position where both haters and supporters surround her, the WTA star revealed a fresh lesson that she learned amid the ongoing events.

“I think overall I just learned about life a lot. I guess it’s what you do as you get older. What I do, I’m passionate about but it’s not ever that serious. The world can make you feel like there’s so much pressure and expectation,” she said, mentioning how it can be a tough thing to deal with immense pressure both on and off the courts.

Dropping down the negative comments with a simple understanding of the fact that “at the end of the day it’s a game, it’s sport,” the WTA star laid a perfect example of using tolerance when need be. Although a few of her rivals are out, Gauff is still determined to maintain her levels to move ahead for the second grand slam title.