© Getty Images Sport – Matthew Stockman
Coco Gauff reveals she used to take negative comments and insults to heart because she believed that it was “a personal thing” and that she was “a target” but it all changed after she realized that she wasn’t the only one experiencing that on the Tour.
Over the last several months, top-ranked American female tennis player Gauff has been pretty open about her experience and battle with social media abuse.
Most notably, Gauff sent a message to her haters and doubters shortly after becoming a Grand Slam champion at the 2023 US Open. At the time, Gauff warned their doubters that she had read their comments and knew their names and that their comments fueled her great US Open run.
On Thursday, Gauff overcame Yua Yuan 6-4 6-3 to progress into the Indian Wells semifinal. After the match, the American – who turned 20 on Wednesday – was asked about social media negativity and her using it as a motivation.
“Yeah, it definitely was a thing in the past where I would take the comments to heart. I started on tour at 15, and, you know, went from overwhelming positive response to, you know, now there’s pressure that you have to win and to where every loss was negative comments,” Gauff said.
“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about…
