After having a wonderful campaign on the clay courts, which ended with a title triumph at Roland Garros, Coco Gauff failed to make an impact on grass. She was ousted by Xinyu Wang in the R16 of the Grass Court Championships in Berlin. That was only the prelude to a bigger heartbreak as she suffered another straight-set defeat to the current world number 31, Dayana Yastremska. This time at Wimbledon. The Ukrainian took just 78 minutes to topple the world No. 2 7-6(3),6-1. Gauff, of course, was far from impressed with herself. “I don’t really like losing – I just feel a little bit disappointed in how I showed up today,” she confessed.

Even Montreal saw her eliminated in the R16, courtesy of 18-year-old Canadian phenom and eventual champion, Victoria Mboko. In Cincinnati, she started her campaign with a rematch, beating Xinyu Wang 6-3, 6-2, only to set herself up for another encounter with Dayana Yastremska. It would have made for a perfect revenge saga, except that Gauff didn’t want it to be one.

Before the match, the American claimed, “I don’t ever think of like a revenge type of tennis. At first, I used to think like that, but then I’m like, I’ve played too many people too many times to have like a revenge mindset, but no, I think for me, it’s a good measure to see where my game is.“Unfortunately for Gauff, she couldn’t test herself against the Ukrainian again as the latter withdrew from the match, citing health issues. That being said, a walkover also meant more downtime for Gauff before her match against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti. So why not just head to the Great American Ball Park to watch the Cincinnati Reds take on the Philadelphia Phillies?

The Cincinnati Reds shared a video clip on their X handle, welcoming Gauff to the GABP, and the tennis star was heard saying, “Hey guys, it’s Coco and I’m excited to be here supporting the Reds. It’s my first Red’s baseball game and I’m having a great time.” And while it may be her first Reds game, it’s hardly the first time Gauff has been seen endorsing a sport other than her own.

After all, she’s often seen cheering for her brother, Codey, who announced his commitment to Mizzou Baseball last year. What’s more? Her involvement in other sports is not just limited to cheering from the stands. Last year, during the China Open, Coco Gauff was seen playing soccer on…get this… a tennis court. 

Talking about how her love for multiple sports started, Gauff once revealed, “My parents always never wanted me to specify in a sport, which is why when I was 13, I knew that I was going to play tennis, but they still put me in basketball and track. I ended up missing my All-Star game because I had to play the junior US Open. I made the finals of that tournament.” 

Coming back to her match against Dayana Yastremska, what really happened to the Ukrainian, though?

Coco Gauff’s opponent opens up on the exact reason behind her recent withdrawal

The 25-year-old Ukrainian, Dayana Yastremska, has had a decent season this year, and she has a win-loss record of 31-18. Yastremska is yet to win a title this season, but she reached the finals at the Linz Open and Nottingham Open. At the Cincinnati Open, she got off to a winning start by defeating Viktoriya Tomova in the R64 by 6-4,2-6,6-2. But what exactly went wrong before the second match?

Well, explaining the exact reason behind her withdrawal from the match against Coco Gauff, she released a statement saying, “For the past few days, I’ve been taking strong antibiotics, which have caused severe intoxication. I even considered skipping my previous match, but I was hoping it would pass. However, under physical exertion my heart rate spikes and I feel extremely weak. During the match against Tomova, I felt really unwell – my heart was just racing… Yesterday I didn’t practice at all, and together with my doctors we decided not to risk my health.“

Having said that, she further added, “For now, I’ll take a few days off from training, and then I’ll start preparing for the US Open.” This walkover has now ensured Coco Gauff a third meeting with Lucia Bronzetti in her career. The American currently has a 2-0 record against the Italian. Can Coco Gauff clinch her second Cincinnati title (after 2023)? What do you think?