The Australian Open. It’s the first Grand Slam of the year. With all the bright blues, the aesthetics, and the welcoming atmosphere—all of which set the scene for AO Classics to unfold—who wouldn’t want to start their year basking in the Melbournian sun? No wonder Roger Federer called it the ‘Happy Slam.’ However, for Coco Gauff, her AO campaign started on anything but a happy note, and she hasn’t even stepped onto the court yet. Who does she (partially) have to thank for it? The USTA.

In the build-up to the main draw action in Melbourne Park, the USTA—in an attempt to show its support for USA’s seeded players—tweeted a “hype post,” as Gauff called it. But it wasn’t any ordinary poster with the eight seeded Americans. It was a caricature of them in front of the great Australian outdoors. While most people didn’t give the depiction too much thought, Coco Gauff couldn’t help but complain about how they all were portrayed. And once she started, she couldn’t stop.

It started with the 19-year-old replying to the tweet, “Bruh…. what even is this 😂.” When fans pointed out that the cartoon portrayals were based on the Nickelodeon show The Wild Thornberrys, Gauff commented on how “ugly” everyone looked. She tweeted, “Ya’ll I know it is a cartoon show but I think I would prefer to be drawn as a bratz art style and not this 🙏 this makes us all look so ugly.” As a rare few fans indulged in her rant, most felt incredulous at her reaction.

One user shared a post that showed all of Gauff’s comments. She wrote, “This is actually repulsive,” “This is awful,” and “WHAT A POST 🔥🔥🔥 let’s not do it again.” But after a point, the US Open champion was done with all the ridicule she was getting. In a clarifying statement, she wrote, “I was bored in my hotel room😭 i’m sorry y’all it was just a kiki plz let me breathe🙏🏾 tennis twitter is funny but ruthless haha omg.”

All the posts, apart from her final tweet, have been taken down since (including the original USTA poster). Even though she asked her followers to let it go, they couldn’t get past the fact that she ridiculed the poster again and again. As a result, X quickly became Gauff’s first opponent at the Australian Open.

Fans believe Coco Gauff made a ‘big deal’ out of nothing

Considering this is a Grand Slam, and players get more time to rest and recover before and after their matches, what Coco Gauff said about being bored in her hotel room made sense. But before she put out that statement, she posted another tweet, writing, “i was joking 😭 a few us were joking about it omg.” However, fans didn’t pay much heed to the teenager, instead opting to call her out for her actions. Seeing as she repeatedly criticized the poster and even took it to Instagram, one fan couldn’t help but compare her to a “bully.”

There’s no doubt that the USTA poster wasn’t the most beautiful artistic creation ever made. Even fans agreed with Coco Gauff on that account. However, many of them felt she took it too far. One of them wrote, “yes the edit was kinda ugly but it wasnt that deep.”

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The reactions ranged from people calling the US Open champion a “Spoiled brat 🙄” to a crybaby. When she posted that comment about her and her compatriots looking “ugly,” World No.5 (and Gauff’s doubles partner) Jessica Pegula agreed with her, writing, “Hahahahhaha we are ugly af.” Seeing their reactions, another enraged follower tweeted, “What cry babies. It’s a cartoon that’s a bit of fun.”

With the same sentiment, one more user wrote, “Coco Gauff is such a whiner. It’s not that big of a deal.” Even after Gauff clarified that she was only joking, these reactions calling her out didn’t stop, with another user writing that she has “nothing better to do apparently.” However, there were a few fans who stood by the 19-year-old as well.

One of them hilariously asked USTA for a favor, writing, “USTA please hire a better artist next time.” Seeing how she had to defend herself from all the hate by giving everyone an explanation, another fan wrote, “You don’t owe them an explanation bae.” There’s no denying that Coco Gauff came into the tennis scene as a prodigy and has since lived up to all the hype. One fan acknowledged that, saying, “You’ve reached that level of success where you got haters lmao.”

What are your thoughts on this entire situation? Does Coco Gauff deserve all the hate she’s receiving? Let us know in the comments!

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