Coco Gauff has always had a simple post-title ritual: find the family first, trophy second. When she won her maiden Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows in 2023, she rushed straight to her parents for a tight hug before FaceTiming her younger brothers to bring them into the celebration. This year, Cincinnati followed the same family-first script, just with a little less courtside access. With her family unable to make it to the stands, Gauff pulled out FaceTime again, but this time, her celebration didn’t sit well with everyone.

After beating Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4 in the final, footage of Gauff FaceTiming her family quickly went viral. One critic, however, wasn’t exactly a fan of the moment and took to social media to complain, stating,

“Kinda hate how after the match the players immediately just bring their phones out… like omg live a little,” they wrote, but deleted the post a few minutes later. However, it caught Gauff’s attention.

“God forbid a girl facetimes her family to share the moment with them,” she wrote back, not letting the comment go unanswered. However, this isn’t the first time Gauff has had to push back against critics.

Back in April, an online debate erupted over her look after photos from her Miu Miu campaign surfaced, with much of the criticism quickly turning toward her hair. Gauff eventually addressed the backlash in an eight-minute video on social media.

“I deleted TikTok and Twitter for a month, to come back on Twitter and see thousands of people talking about the way that I look like, and not in a positive way,” she said.

Gauff also made it clear that she had no intention of apologizing for how she looked. “I’m not going to apologize for the way that my hair looked,” she said. “There are other girls who have the exact same hair as me, and I just want them to see and feel represented.” That has pretty much been Gauff’s way of dealing with criticism. She acknowledges it, answers when she feels the need to, and then gets on with her business without letting the noise dictate her game.

And after the splendid run she had in Cincinnati this week, Gauff wasn’t about to let a few critics rain on her parade.

Gauff Overcame Self-Doubt to Conquer Cincinnati

For the first time in 56 years, the Cincinnati Masters final featured two American women, with Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula putting on a showdown fans had been waiting for.

Gauff wasted little time making her mark, racing to a 5-0 lead within 30 minutes before wrapping up the opening set 6-2. Holding on in a more competitive second set, winning it 6-4, to finish the game in one hour and 14 minutes. She won 65 percent of her first-serve points to Pegula’s 47 percent and converted five of six break points. 

It marked Gauff’s first title of the season and her fourth career WTA 1000 crown. Notably, she dropped just one set across the entire tournament, in her opening match against Liudmila Samsonova, before winning 12 straight sets to the title.

“I think it was a long journey, but I’m happy. I think it’s night and day, the player I was last year to now,” she said in her title-winning speech. She later shared the struggles and self-doubts she faced, and added, “Last year, I was just frustrated with my game and I felt like I was declining. It’s not something any player wants to feel.” 

Back in 2025, Gauff finished the season with 48 wins in total and 16 losses to match that. Those losses included back-to-back defeats at WTA 1000 finals on clay, falling to Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid and then to Jasmine Paolini in Rome, both in straight sets. She eventually capped off her clay season with the French Open title, defeating Sabalenka in three sets. 

The world No. 4 now sits at 40-13 for 2026, and has reached three WTA 1000 finals, runner-up finishes in Miami and Rome before finally closing one out in Cincinnati. The win over Pegula marked her 40th win of the season already and her first title of the year after a stretch that had repeatedly seen her fall just short in the biggest matches. 

“I don’t think that this is an indicator that I’m going to do well in New York. Just knowing the quality wins that I had this week, hopefully I can use that experience,” Gauff stated.

The last time Gauff won this exact title, in 2023, she went on to win her maiden Grand Slam at the US Open weeks later. Can she do it again?