Push Admin

Coco Gauff of the USA looks on during her Women’s Singles semifinal against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Day 12 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, January 25, 2024. Joel Carrett, EPA-EFE.

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- US Open champion Coco Gauff says she is committed to fighting for equality and justice and hopes she&#x27;ll ultimately be seen as &quot;on the right side of history&quot;, after being named as one of Time magazine&#x27;s women of the year on Wednesday.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gauff has been outspoken from a young age, and grew up with activism engrained in her DNA, passed on from her grandmother Yvonee Lee Odom, who desegregated her high school in Delray Beach in the early 1960s.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">As a 16-year-old, Gauff stood up in a Black Lives Matter rally and gave a speech and earlier this week in Dubai, the now 19-year-old told UAE&#x27;s The National newspaper she was advocating for peace in Gaza.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/11973397.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Coco Gauff of the USA looks on during her Women’s Singles semifinal against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Day 12 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, January 25, 2024. Joel Carrett, EPA-EFE."/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Coco Gauff of the USA looks on during her Women’s Singles semifinal against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Day 12 of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, January 25, 2024. <em><strong>Joel Carrett, EPA-EFE.</strong></em></span></span></span></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;I think it&#x27;s important for us as privileged civilians to do our research and just continuing to demand our leaders to make change and I will never not advocate for that,&quot; said Gauff, who won her Dubai last-16 tie on Wednesday against Karolina Pliskova.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gauff said she felt &quot;honored&quot; to be named on Time&#x27;s list of Women of the Year and wants to follow in the footsteps of tennis legends like Billie Jean King, Althea Gibson, and Venus Williams, who have all fought for equality across different generations.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;I like to say I&#x27;m more than a tennis player. I feel like this sport is very popular in advocating for equality and justice. I feel comfortable doing that,&quot; Gauff told reporters in Dubai.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The world number three said she wasn&#x27;t too concerned about any backlash she might face for speaking her mind, irrespective of the topic, adding: &quot;My goal is to tell my grandkids that I was on the right side of history. That&#x27;s why I&#x27;m not too worried about that.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>- Gauff battles past Pliskova -</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On the court, Gauff snapped Pliskova&#x27;s 11-match winning streak, claiming a hard-fought 2-6 6-4 6-3 win to reach a second consecutive Dubai quarter-final.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A champion in Cluj and semi-finalist in Doha, where she handed Iga Swiatek a walkover, Pliskova hadn&#x27;t lost a match since her Australian Open first-round exit last month, picking up 11 victories in 15 days across three countries.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gauff, who won Auckland at the start of the year and made the semi-finals of the Australian Open, lost her opener in Doha last week and overcame a shaky start against Pliskova to reach her third quarter-final of the season.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">With the help of eight double faults from Gauff&#x27;s racquet, Pliskova scooped the opening set in 30 minutes.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gauff had an extended argument with the umpire Pierre Bacchi in the second set at 2-6, 4-2, deuce, complaining that he made a late call to incorrectly overrule her serve then refused to award her the point, despite Pliskova missing the return well before the late call was made.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Gauff repeatedly asked for the supervisor to come to the court but Bacchi wouldn&#x27;t relent. After failing to convince him, Gauff ended the five-minute discussion and held serve for a 5-2 advantage.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Pliskova saved four set points on the Gauff serve and broke for 4-5 but the American was unnerved and grabbed the next game to take the match into a decider.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">A crucial break for Gauff in the eighth game of the final set was enough for the third seed to complete a tough win in one hour and 53 minutes and set up a quarter-final against Anna Kalinskaya.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;I don&#x27;t usually advocate that hard for things unless I&#x27;m 100 percent sure. I don&#x27;t want to get the reputation with the refs from US Open to here,&quot; said Gauff, referring to an argument she had with the official during her US Open first-round match last summer.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">When told she was right about Bacchi&#x27;s late call, Gauff said: &quot;Okay, so I guess is he going to apologize? I&#x27;ll let you know.&quot;</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hwHKAIUxYjk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>As a 16-year-old, Gauff stood up in a Black Lives Matter rally and gave a speech and earlier this week in Dubai, the now 19-year-old told UAE's The National newspaper she was advocating for peace in Gaza.</p>

As a 16-year-old, Gauff stood up in a Black Lives Matter rally and gave a speech and earlier this week in Dubai, the now 19-year-old told UAE's The National newspaper she was advocating for peace in Gaza.

Gauff eyes 'right side of history' after Time magazine recognition

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

Sports

Gauff eyes 'right side of history' after Time magazine recognition

Agence France-Presse,

Reem Abulleil

Published Feb 22, 2024 12:21 AM PHT

Read More:

abssports

tennis

Coco Gauff

Time magazine

Karolina Pliskova

Black Lives Matter

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.