“Riles People Up”- Coco Gauff Reveals Her Unusual Way of Dealing With Online Haters

Like every other top athlete, Coco Gauff has her own share of detractors and critics who often send hurtful and negative comments on social media. But as it turns out, the two-time Major champion has a unique way of handling them. Gauff is not one to sit back and take abuse from anyone, and she candidly shared how she tackles her haters online.

“So I’ll just block it if it’s something I don’t like. Sometimes I will respond to some people or troll people,” said Gauff during her press conference at the Canadian Open. “I do like to, like whenever somebody comments something mean, I might just comment back like an emoji, like a smiley face or something, I don’t know, just to get them, I feel like that riles people up.”

Given the current scenario, players earn quite a bit of their fame and money from social-media-driven narratives, and it’s not always possible to stay away from them. Online betting, a major part of sports nowadays, also contributes greatly to the abuse players receive and has been a growing concern, with Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys even pointing it out on their podcast last year.

This is the second event in a row where Gauff had to talk about how she dealt with negative comments on social media. After her close loss to Karolina Muchova during the Wimbledon semifinal, the American had already started receiving hateful comments, just hours after the match. However, even then, the former World No.3 took it in her stride, playfully hinting at her press conference that she would tag the same people when she won the next match.

The WTA has implemented the Threat Matrix tool along with Wimbledon and the USTA to identify flagged user comments on social media that are a threat to player safety. Identifying and collecting the comments has enabled the WTA to understand that the majority of the hurtful comments come from disgruntled bettors who lose money, and has helped them to communicate with betting companies to tackle the situation.

While she is unbothered by social media comments, Gauff will need a big result to kickstart her North American swing. The aggressive style of tennis she played at Wimbledon will give her a huge advantage on the faster courts of Toronto, Cincinnati, and New York. Ranked No.4 with 5649 points, Gauff will have an opportunity to break into the Top 3 if she has deep runs on the hard courts.

Gauff has a tricky draw at the Canadian Open, with her opening round being against either Kayla Day or Diane Parry. The fourth seed will have a potential fourth-round clash with Iva Jovic, while the recently crowned Wimbledon champion, Linda Noskova, could be her quarterfinal opponent. However, if Gauff keeps coming to the net as she did on grass and adds some aggressive variation to her already solid defensive game, the American will be a serious title contender in Toronto.

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