United States tennis star Coco Gauff couldn’t care less about whether a ball is in or out during practice. However, she revealed at Wimbledon that she intentionally avoids certain players because they take themselves way too seriously and often cheat.
Remember, this is during practice— not an actual match!
Gauff, who enjoyed an easy 6-1, 6-2 victory over Caroline Dolehide on Monday, was asked if she has ever been cheated by another player. The 20-year-old American joked with the reporter that he might’ve overheard her recent conversation on that very topic.
No, yeah, I mean, I’m not going to say who, but we had a conversation about how some players on tour like to call the lines a little bit too much in practice. So we were having like a laugh out of that.
— Coco Gauff
Although she refused to name names, Gauff revealed that certain players make practice unenjoyable. If there isn’t any legitimate stakes on the line, their egregious focus on what’s in and what’s out proves to be exhausting.
But, yeah, there are some girls, I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, that will do it. For me, I don’t really take any offense. If we’re in a real match, what’s the point? But a lot of times it’s probably girls who maybe were like cheaters in juniors and they just have the habit.
— Coco Gauff
As a result, Gauff intentionally avoids certain players. She doesn’t want to get herself worked up over something so unimportant so she simply doesn’t practice with the women who go too far.
Most of the time I try to practice with people who don’t do that just to save frustration. I’m not going to question the girl. I’m not going to be like, “Hey that was kind of in.” I’ll just be like whatever, just move on.
— Coco Gauff
Gauff would not reveal the culprits but clarified that it’s “not anybody that you would think.” More specifically, it is not Jelena Ostapenko, who has a long history of debating calls during matches.
Rather, Ostapenko practices like it’s practice and not a grand slam final.
I know people are going to probably think and say maybe Ostapenko because she does that. But, no, she’s actually one of my favorite people to practice with. She’s just funny. I think generally she just sometimes thinks her ball is in, but she doesn’t do it in practice. It’s definitely other people.
— Coco Gauff
We can also rule out Emma Raducanu. The 21-year-old British phenom was asked the same question. Her approach to practice is on par with Gauff.
Form me when we’re in practice playing points, if it’s an inch in, and inch out, it doesn’t necessarily matter. Like it’s practice at the end of the day.
If think for some players, it’s the biggest thing ever. It’s like, let ’em have it. Doesn’t really matter.
— Emma Raducanu
There is no need to sweat the small things during practice. It’s not a real match. The stakes are zero.
Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu are on the same page when it comes to this topic. They find the players who frequently cheat during practice to be ridiculous. It gets exhausting to deal with all of the disgruntlements and ticky tacky line calls so they try to avoid the biggest offenders as often as possible.