Coco Gauff did not want to associate with Ilona Maher at the Olympics after the United States rugby player tried to talk about pickleball. She was fully prepared to walk away before getting pulled back in.
The American tennis star has major beef with the alternate racket (paddle) sport!
Maher, one of the biggest social media stars of this year’s Games, boasts more than one million followers on TikTok. A large portion of her content is focused around the Olympic Village and the international dating pool— as well as the social dynamics of the different social interactions between the world’s most popular athletes. She is one of the best follows on the internet year-round, but especially over these next 16 days in Paris.
Maher ran into Gauff on the street before the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. The conversation and subsequent photo op did not go well after the former started to discuss pickleball with the latter.
It took Gauff a moment to realize what Maher said, but she immediately tried to distance herself as soon as she did. Maher had to pull her back in.
Although the video is super awkward, it is intentionally so. Their Olympics interaction was all in good fun. They’re friends. The tension between them isn’t real and Maher quipped that she was just trying to relate!
What was (and is) serious is Gauff’s reaction to the comment about the less-intensive, quickly-growing paddle sport. Tennis players hate it! They refuse to acknowledge its rise and don’t want to associate.
Novak Djokovic recently urged the sport of tennis to make a major change if it is going to fend off pickleball, especially in the United States. He explained that the marketing of the sport does not cater to younger generations while pickleball offers a more financially viable and more accessible option.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff won’t even associate herself with Ilona Maher just for mentioning the other sport!
Ironically, the Team USA flag bearer’s coach suggested that tennis take a page out of pickleball’s playbook back in April. He wants to install a “kitchen” to prevent athletes from crowding the net.
Maybe there is more common ground between the two different net-based sports than they think?! Either way, athletes should avoid the pickleball chatter around tennis players at the Olympics.