Gauff Reveals She Wanted To Recreate Graf's 'How Much Money Do You Have' Moment

| by Nurein Ahmed

Coco Gauff has been feeling the love from an exuberant Mexican crowd from the day she set foot in Cancun and even got a marriage proposal during the opening night at the WTA Finals.

Teaming up with compatriot Jessica Pegula in the first doubles group match, they would lose to the Canadian-New Zealand duo of Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. But it was a mid-match fanfare that reverberated around the stadium that won the day for the American.

Gauff revealed that she had received a marriage proposal from a spectator inside the stadium and was tempted to recreate Steffi Graf's iconic marriage proposal scene from Wimbledon 27 years ago and that will live long in the tennis memorabilia.

The German tennis great famously uttered the words, "How much money do you have?" in response to a marriage proposal from an enthusiastic tennis fan at the grass-court Slam in a scene that has become a masterpiece of uncontrived laughter.

Gauff Continues Dominance In Olympics Race While Swiatek Stays Second
Gauff Continues Dominance In Olympics Race While Swiatek Stays Second

During her on-court interview after beating Ons Jabeur, Gauff clarified that she changed her mind after having second thoughts about her performance being affected by it, but promised to redo it the next time it happens, as this was the second time she got that reaction.

"Somebody said, 'Will you marry me,' and I think it was Steffi Graf who said, 'How much money do you have? I almost wanted to recreate that moment, but then if we would have lost people would have said, 'They lost because she said that.' So I was like alright, 'I won't do that.'"

"This is the second time that's happened to me, and I've been so tempted just to recreate that moment because every time I see it on YouTube or Twitter or TikTok, I love it. So maybe the third time I'll actually do it."

The future of women's tennis is most certainly in good hands, with Gauff tipped by many pundits and fans to be the leading light of the new crop of stars. At 19, Gauff is the youngest player in the world's Top 40.

Czech youngster Linda Noskova and Russian teen sensation Mirra Andreeva are the other teenagers who are on the verge of breaking that barrier next year.

But Gauff's on-court success, coupled with her unparalleled charisma separates her from the same band of teenagers. Competing at the WTA Finals, she began the singles tournament in style, beating Jabeur for the loss of one game in her opening match, and will face World No. 2 Iga Swiatek next.

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Gauff Praises 'One Of Best Players In Our Generation' Swiatek Ahead Of WTA Finals Showdown

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