Coco Gauff claps back at opponent’s husband for ridiculing her with his hat as the teenager won her quarterfinal match in the Australian Open
After winning her Australian Open quarterfinal match on Monday, Coco Gauff responded to her opponent’s husband poking fun at her with the hat he wore courtside.
The teenage phenom took on Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the semifinals. During the game, Kotsyuk’s husband, Heorhii, wore a hat that said ‘shake your cocos’.Gauff ended up defeating Kostyuk, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (3), 6-2, in three-hour match. Shortly after, she clapped back at Heorhii on Instagram.Kostyuk married Heorhii in Cyrpus last November.
Despite her loss, Monday’s match marked the Ukrainian’s first quarterfinal finish at a Grand Slam.
On the other hand, Gauff admitted that despite the desirable result, she was not satisfied with her performance.
‘Today was definitely a C-game,’ Gauff said. ‘Didn’t play my best tennis but really proud that I was able to get through. Hopefully got the bad match out of the way and I can play even better.
‘I knew going in, playing her, it was (going to be) a tough match. She’s pretty athletic, and we kind of play similar. Today she was just more offensive, which I wish I was taking the offense from the beginning.’Gauff faced second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in the semifinals on Wednesday. The two previously squared off in September’s US Open final, where Gauff won, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, for her first major title.
Sabalenka got the best of Gauff in the rematch to advance to the final. By winning the match, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4, she derailed Gauff’s hopes of winning the Australian Open as a teenager.
Sabelenka will take on Qinweng Zheng on Saturday for the title.
