Coco Gauff shows true colours with message to crowd who wanted her to lose | Tennis | Sport

Coco Gauff showed her class as she thanked the Filipino fans who turned up to cheer on Alexandra Eala at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The 20-year-old has quickly become one of the most popular players, attracting hordes of Filipino fans to the stands wherever she plays, and it’s been no different in the Middle East.

No. 3 seed Gauff knew what to expect as she faced Eala for the first time in the Dubai quarter-finals. The packed stadium cheered against her, but the American didn’t let it bother her, sealing a commanding 6-0 6-2 victory in just 67 minutes. And Gauff then used the opportunity to thank Eala for bringing new fans to the sport, also telling the crowd to keep up the enthusiasm.

“Alex is a tough competitor, even when I was up, I knew that she could come back at any given moment, I’ve seen her do it before. Thank you guys for coming out here. I know you’re mostly supporting Alex, but I have to say, it is great to be on a crowded court. I’ve played this tournament for many years, and to see the stadium full, it means a lot,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said after booking a place in the semi-finals.

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“Also, I’d like to thank Alex for bringing a new demographic to the sport. I really appreciate [it]. I think it’s great, I know sometimes it’s tough when you’re playing against a ‘home crowd’ but I think that it’s great for the sport, so keep being enthusiastic and keep rooting for your player.”

Speaking more after the match, the 21-year-old revealed that she had seen some discussions about the passion Eala’s fans showed during matches, and wanted to take the opportunity to highlight just how valuable it was for the sport.

Gauff explained: “I know there’s been conversations online about maybe the enthusiasm of some of the fans. My perspective today, obviously, it was a different scoreline, so maybe it caused it, but I thought it was fun to play in.

“I don’t know, I think tennis needs more of this. Yeah, I think it’s great just to see a nation so proud of someone, especially a nation that’s pretty underrepresented in this sport. I think it’s pretty cool to see. I also liked, even at 6-0, 4-1 or 4-0 something, she was smiling. I think that’s something that you can’t buy that. Yeah, I see why people want to root for her. I root for her, when I’m not playing her, of course.”

While facing Eala was a new experience for Gauff, the American will now take on a more familiar opponent in Elina Svitolina. The world No. 9 beat Gauff in last month’s Australian Open quarter-finals, and Gauff believes she already has a renewed perspective on that match.

“Elina for me in Australia, I kind of just put that behind. I felt like, yeah, she played well that match, she definitely did, but I also feel like I beat myself up a little bit that match. I think it was a combination of both. Yeah, it’s not easy. Kudos to her. So yeah, I think for me, I can learn from that when I’m maybe starting the match off slow, how to combat that. I did learn from it. I feel like these last couple matches, I haven’t started off the best and was able to do that,” the world No. 4 said.

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