Coco Gauff Defends Her Claim That American Fans Are ‘the Worst’ at Supporting U.S. Players Overseas

NEED TO KNOW

• Coco Gauff defended her claim that American fans are "the worst" at supporting U.S. players at overseas tournaments

• The Grand Slam champion first shared her stance during a United Cup press conference on Jan. 4, before adding further context on X later that day

• Taylor Fritz of the United States, who was on the panel beside her, defended her comments on X

Coco Gauff is holding serve on her stance.

The Grand Slam champion, 21, addressed the backlash she received over her recent comments that American fans are "the worst" at supporting U.S. players in overseas tournaments in a lengthy post shared to X on Sunday, Jan. 4.

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Gauff's initial comments were part of a panel discussion earlier that day during the United Cup, a mixed-gender team tournament held in Perth and Sydney featuring teams from 18 countries. There, she was asked if she thinks Americans are good at cheering on their players outside of the U.S.

“I'll be honest — no," Gauff began. "I feel like we’re definitely, in the tennis department, the worst when it comes to that. So I’ve always said I wish our country in other places would show up throughout the world as we see, maybe, smaller countries support.”

She added that she recognizes it's tough to get Americans' attention on tennis "just because our country is so good in so many sports," but that, "I would like to see some more Americans in Sydney... than there were last year."

A few hours later, Gauff gave a longer explaination on X.

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"Lol I'm going to clarify because people are dragging this out of context," Gauff began her post.

"I'm not expecting people to travel to tournaments to watch us play. But there are many tournaments that we have in American and abroad where Americans are already attending regardless of who is playing (excluding US Open) where people come and don’t really cheer for their countrymen player," she wrote.

"Whereas those from smaller countries come with their colors and flags and it is clear on who they are supporting. I was just speaking from my perspective," she continued, before addressing the financial aspect that was a large reason for the backlash.

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"Trust me I understand the financial aspect of things and know tennis is not accessible for everyone, it was more of a comment for those who are already attending and how I wish they were as passionate as those from other countries more specifically team events," she wrote.

Gauff concluded her post on X with why she answered the question the way she did, noting how it was just her observation.

"People don’t owe me anything I was just honestly answering a question I was asked and it was simply an observation I noticed about other countries vs mine that is all. Nevertheless I am grateful for any support no matter how big or small it is," she tweeted.

Gauff's teammate in the tournament, Taylor Fritz, spoke out in support of Gauff in the comment section of her X post.

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"People always wanna take things in the worst possible way," he tweeted on Jan. 5. "I was there sitting next to her, and I know EXACTLY what Coco meant and was trying to say, and she’s right. There is absolutely no disrespect meant to the U.S. fans at all in this statement."

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"If we were to play Czech or Poland here at United cup there will be a massive group of fans going crazy for them," he continued. "We love the Americans that come out and support, some other countries abroad just have a really insane sports culture, but we appreciate every single American abroad that comes to watch."

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