Coco Gauff called out a fan for heckling opponent Hailey Baptiste during their Australian Open match, asking for respect from one member of the Margaret Court Arena crowd
Coco Gauff took a moment during her on-court interview to address a heckler who had targeted her Australian Open third-round opponent Hailey Baptiste. Spectators at Margaret Court Arena gave the world No. 3 a round of applause for making those remarks following the three-set match, which Gauff clinched 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, but the exact words thrown at Baptiste remain unknown.
Gauff said: “Hailey’s a great competitor, so to the guy who made that comment: We’re all doing our best out here. A lot of people believe in her.
“I understand you’re trying to root for me, but let’s be respectful. We’re all trying our best.”
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The American tennis star was full of admiration for her compatriot, who became the first player to snatch a set from her in Melbourne this year. Gauff spoke afterwards about how she turned around the match, saying: “Honestly, I didn’t change too much.
“I think I tried to get more first serves in, but she played so well in the first set. Maybe if a couple of points go my way, it could be a different outcome, but I wasn’t too upset.
“I just said, if she plays like this the whole match, and I can’t raise my level, then great job to her, but I was able to raise my level. I’m happy with how I mentally stayed calm through that.”
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Despite knowing each other well, Gauff dismissed the notion that it would pose a challenge on court. She said: “I think we’re both competitors, so we don’t take any personal things on the court. We’re both trying to win, and we understand that.
“We know each other’s games, but we don’t really practice or play that much. We’ve only played once; I’ve seen her play a million times, but it’s always different when you’re stepping on the court.
“She plays so different to any other player on tour. I was just trying to be my best and to adjust.”
Gauff also heaped praise on Baptiste for forcing her onto the back foot during return games. She conceded: “When I was returning, I was just playing mainly defence because she had so many good first serves. I felt like every return game, I was just more focused on putting the return on the court and just trying to figure it out.
“But on the serve, I was just trying to be aggressive with my placement and not being too passive. I think there were some moments where maybe I was a bit too passive. Honestly, I’m out there trying to figure out the balance along with everybody else.”
Looking ahead to her fourth-round clash with Karolina Muchova, Gauff reckons her opening matches have set her up nicely for what is to come. She said: “I think today was a good practice- not practise, because Hailey’s tough, but it’s not often you play two players like [Kamilla] Rakhimova [who Gauff beat in the first round] and Hailey. I’ll need to try to take what I did today and try to make some more adjustments to do better.
“She’s a tough opponent [Muchova]. I always say she’s one of the best players on tour and deserves way more wins than she has, just with injuries and everything. It’s gonna be a tough one. It’s never easy with her, but I’m happy with today, and I’ll look forward to her tomorrow.”
