Coco Gauff is active on social media, and that allowed her to give the perfect response to a troll who made a pathetic attempt at insulting her.
Social media trolls had been actively discussing Gauff after last year's US Open champion endured a difficult few months during the grass court season, the Olympics, and the the North American hardcourt swing.
Gauff had been performing solidly in the opening months of the season without taking the last step needed to make the finals. She reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, French Open, Indian Wells Open, and Italian Open.
The 20-year-old seemed to lose confidence after being defeated by Emma Navarro in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Gauff then failed to win a medal at the Olympics before her performances worsened further during the North American swing.
That run of results led to Gauff parting ways with her coach Brad Gilbert. He was in the American's team during her 2023 US Open run, but in truth, Gilbert did not seem to know how to help her on and off the court this year.
Many felt Gauff's year could peter out after that decision and that the young star was likely to be more focused on preparing well during the off-season for a strong start to 2025.
However, Gauff confounded those expectations by winning the second WTA 1000 title of her career at the China Open. She recovered from losing the first set in three of her matches before crushing Karolina Muchova in the final.
The former world No. 2's presence on social media means she was aware of some of the criticism she was getting. This included jibes about Gauff only being able to win WTA 250 level events since her sole title this year before the China Open was at the start of the year at the ASB Classic.
That led to Gauff poking fun at her critics in an Instagram story after winning the China Open, reminding those who said she was only good enough this year for 250-level tournaments how wrong they were.
"She only wins 250s. Well... WHOMP, WHOMP."
An account on X, (formerly Twitter) who may have been one of those mocking Gauff throughout the year, could not resist the temptation to post something insulting about the China Open winner.
"Coco has the mentality of a 5-year-old I'm sorry."
Gauff could have resorted to insults in response to the account. Instead, she explained why having the mentality of a kid is not necessarily a bad thing, making the troll's attempt at a barb blow up in their face.
"Honestly, kids have the best outlook 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!"
Trolls online might want to think twice before directing their words towards Gauff. They may end up on the receiving end of a similarly eloquent takedown from the former US Open champion.
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