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Tennis Sensation Coco Gauff Came Under Fire For Praying After Winning U.S. Open

Published on September 13, 2023

It’s a great accomplishment for anyone, regardless of age, to win the US Open at such a young age.

What Coco Gauff did there was unprecedented. However, much of the backlash she received after she won the championship was due to the actions she took.

Learn more by reading on…

19-year-old Coco Gauff made history as a tennis player by becoming the youngest woman to ever win the U.S. Open.

Serena Williams, who was also 19 at the time, was the last person to do so in 2001.

Gauff won in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, against Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff has been progressively rising to prominence in her career since going pro in 2018, and her success has catapulted her to international renown.

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A post shared by Coco Gauff (@cocogauff)

The 19-year-old has only reached two finals in her whole tennis career, and this one was her maiden Grand Slam.

Her celebration of her victory went viral. However, she has received considerable backlash from the internet community due to one particular move she made after learning she had won.

She bent over, hands clasped, and appeared to be praying. Text accompanying the video read, “@CocoGauff took a moment to soak it all in after winning her first Grand Slam title.” ESPN’s X (previously on Twitter) handle released the video.

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Head coach Tony Dungy was not happy with what ESPN said about Gauff’s celebration after the team won the Super Bowl. “I hate to break this to you, SportsCenter but Coco Gauff was not ‘soaking it all in’ at this moment. She was praying. She has been very open about her Christian faith in the past. It seems pretty obvious what she is doing here.”

A verified Facebook user by the name of T.J. Moe expressed the same opinion as Fox News’ original poster. He wrote, “ESPN tried to say she was “soaking it all in.” Nah, that’s prayer, and it’s fantastic to see a young athlete know where it all came from.”

The remark, however, offended some people.

The implication that people’s prayers are what ultimately lead to success was offensive to many.

Someone speculated that the other player’s loss was due to their lack of fervent prayer.

Another upset user brought up the devastating earthquake in Morocco and wondered whether it was evidence that God cared more about sports than people.

However, Coco Gauff is adept at blocking out the “haters.” She expressed her satisfaction at the hard-won triumph.

She said that her parents’ encouragement and her faith kept her going. She reflected on her French Open defeat and claimed it was only one of life’s low points.

She also had words for those who doubted her and wanted her to fail.

She declared, “Honestly, to those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it – and now I’m really burning so bright right now.”

There were detractors who sought to diminish her success, but there were also many supporters who gave her nothing but admiration.