If we had a dollar for every time a female tennis player had to face sexism from fans, we’d be the newest billionaires on the block. Coco Gauff, from USA, has been making quite the sensation due to her teen tennis exploits.
However, Coco hit the news recently with something other than just her backstroke or rally, and she even pulled Federer in with her.
Gauff was hosting a live session on TikTok when a user turned the sexism meter at full blast and said, “Bro what do you not understand she plays GIRLS tennis, he plays BOYS tennis, the skill gap is unmeasurable. A pro girl wouldn’t even win boys states,” a user wrote.
But, Gauff was in no mood to take this sudden attack and came up with a strong response of her own. “First things first: even though I am a girl, I don’t play ‘girls’ tennis. I play women’s tennis, I play with grown women. So that’s one thing,” Gauff said.
“As an athlete, I have no problem in people saying they are better than me because their skill level is better than me,” Gauff added. “But if you think you are better than me for the sole reason that you think you’re a boy and I’m a girl… That doesn’t make any sense.”
While Gauff had made her point clear, she didn’t stop here and went on to include 20 times Grand Slam champion Roger Federer to make her point even clearer than it was.
“For example – Roger Federer. If Roger Federer says he can beat me, he 100% can say that because of skill level and his actual game is way better than mine,” she said. “But if you say that you can beat me solely because of the fact that I’m a girl, that’s stupid.”
Gauff made rounds by being the first ever 15 year old to make an appearance at Wimbledon 2019. She then went on to defeat idol, Venus Williams, in the first round.
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIObgwv69Xw