Coco Gauff Explains Her Celebration After Beating Iga Swiatek At United Cup
News
Coco Gauff explained her new celebration, which she debuted during her victorious run at the 2025 United Cup.
Team USA proved to be the best once again at the United Cup. They won the competition in its inaugural edition in 2023, and two years later, the Americans added a second trophy in three years.
It's easy to say that so far, the United Cup has been dominated by the United States, regardless of the format and number of matches played in the tie.
This year, Gauff certainly proved to be her country's most valuable player (MVP). The 20-year-old player won all of the matches she played, winning five singles and two mixed doubles matches.
She has played and won seven matches at the United Cup on her debut, proving her versatility across different disciplines in tennis. As a former WTA doubles World No. 1, there was never a doubt about Gauff's skills on the doubles court.
Gauff's debut at the United Cup wasn't the only debut at the competition, as the 2023 US Open winner also used a new celebration that was incredibly popular among her teammates.
Already in 2023, during their victorious run, Team USA members were drawing locks on the cameras, showing that they were "locked in," so creating new celebrations is nothing new for the team, showing how well they work together in the team environment.
Gauff's celebration this year was also special. She used it also in the previous rounds, but after beating Iga Swiatek in the final, she used her racket as a shovel, celebrating the win.
Talking during the post-match press conference, Gauff mentioned the "shovel" already when assessing her performance, saying she was happy about giving the country an important 1-0 lead, which Taylor Fritz later turned into an overall win.
"Yeah, I'm really happy with how I played today. I knew how important it was to get that 1-0 start. I just dug deep and, you know, got that win. Yeah, I got the shovel out. That was the theme of the week. Just happy that first United Cup, first W, it's feeling good."
Gauff was then also asked about her celebration and where exactly it came from, as it was something probably never seen on the tennis court before.
There are a few players who like to think of new celebrations, and one that stands out in this regard is Daniil Medvedev, who often entertains fans with new ways of celebrating his triumphs.
Gauff explained that the idea came from her teammate Denis Kudla, who was telling her that she was "digging" during her win over Shuai Zhang in the quarter-finals. That's why she then used the shovel to celebrate the win.
"It came from Denis. Honestly, I think it started, like, in my match against China. I was playing Shuai, and she was playing really great tennis. You know, he was, like, great digging, keep digging."
"Then the shovel celebration came from him. I just kind of took it and ran with it. That was the theme of the week for me."
