Tennis sensation Coco Gauff under fire for praying after winning U.S. Open

Winning the US Open at the young age of 19 years old is a big feat for anyone. By doing so, Coco Gauff made history. But her actions after winning the title resulted in much criticism directed towards her.

Keep reading to learn more…

19-year-old Coco Gauff made her mark in the sport of tennis by winning the U.S. Open at a young age. The last person to accomplish this year was Serena Williams when she won in 2001 at the age of 19 years old as well.

Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka with a score of 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. Her win has catapulted her to international fame because Gauff has seemingly appeared out of nowhere. This was the 19-year-old’s first Grand Slam, and she has only played two finals.

Her reaction to her winning the tournament went viral. But one particular action that she did when she realized she won has garnered a lot of ire directed her way from internet users.

She was seen knelt down, with her hands together, praying. ESPN’s X (formerly known as Twitter) handle posted the video, with text reading, “@CocoGauff took a moment to soak it all in after winning her first Grand Slam title.”

Super Bowl champion head coach Tony Dungy was not pleased with what ESPN had to say about Gauff’s celebration. He replied to their tweet, “I hate to break this to you, SportsCenter but Coco Gauff was not ‘soaking it all in’ at this moment. She was praying. She has been very open about her Christian faith in the past. It seems pretty obvious what she is doing here.”

While on Facebook, a user named T.J. Moe, with a verified account, commented a similar sentiment on Fox News’s post. He wrote, “ESPN tried to say she was “soaking it all in.” Nah, that’s prayer, and it’s fantastic to see a young athlete know where it all came from.”

Others, however, did not take too kindly to the comment. People did not like the insinuation that praying is what determines results. One person asked whether the other player lost because they did not pray hard enough.

Another outraged user asked about the earthquake in Morrocco that took thousands of lives and whether it meant that God was more interested in sports.

But Coco Gauff already knows how to tune out ‘haters.’ She talked about how proud she was of her hard-earned victory. She credited her parents and her faith for why she kept on going. She looked back at her loss at the French Open, and said that loss was merely a part of the ups and downs of life.

As for those who did not believe in her and rooted for her to lose, she had a message for them, too. She said, “Honestly, to those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it – and now I’m really burning so bright right now.”

While there were those who tried to take away from her victory, there were also those who praised her. The tennis star had a lot of support from people who were happy about her win. One commenter even insinuated how another Serena Williams had been found.