World No. 4 Coco Gauff had nothing but praise for Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala after beating her and moving on to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
The two-time Grand Slam champion even thanked Eala for bringing new fans to tennis while also acknowledging her as a “tough competitor.”
“I’d like to thank Alex for bringing a new demographic to the sport. I really appreciate it,” Coc Gauff said of Eala bringing in massive crowd support.
“Alex is a tough competitor, and even when I was up, I knew that she could come back at any given moment. I’ve seen her do it before. So, thank you guys for coming out here, and I know you’re mostly supporting Alex, but I have to say it’s great to be on a crowded court.”
Coco Gauff Shares Mentality on Filipino Cheers
The three-time WTA champion also added how having a big Filipino crowd supporting Eala adds to the sport and how she dealt with the loud cheers.
“I think it’s great. I know sometimes it’s tough when you’re playing against a ‘home’ crowd, but I think that it’s great for the sport, so keep being enthusiastic and keep rooting for your player,” Gauff said. “Honestly, I had a similar matchup in French Open last year, so I brought that mindset today of just trying to, whenever you’re cheering for Alex, I was pretending that it was my name, and I think it helped me a lot.
“If you can’t beat them, you gotta join them,” a smiling Gauff added.
In the end, the two-time Grand Slam champion got the better of Eala and earned some applause from the pro-Eala crowd, which stayed for the postmatch interview.
Coco Gauff, who has made it to the semis of a WTA 1000 event for the 13th time in her career, is now two wins away from another title.
