"Waited my whole life for this"- Coco Gauff thrilled to get the best of Frances Tiafoe in rally during Australian Open charity match
Compatriots Coco Gauff and Frances Tiafoe shared a light-hearted moment as the teenage star got the better of Tiafoe during a rally in a charity match in Melbourne, ahead of the Australian Open 2023.
The duo were present at the Tennis Plays for Peace charity matches being played at the Rod Laver Arena. Tennis Plays for Peace is a global project that brings together the tennis community and fans to support humanitarian relief operations in Ukraine. All of the Grand Slams, as well as the ATP, WTA, and ITF, endorse it.
Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Alexander Zverev, Maria Sakkari, Grigor Dimitrov, Alex de Minaur, and Ukrainian tennis stars Marta Kostyuk and Dayana Yastremska were featured in the exhibition match lineup.
During one such match, Gauff and Tiafoe were involved in a friendly rally as a "bored" Kostyuk sat down on the pitch with the two Americans trying to outwit each other. At the start of the rally, Tiafoe challenged Gauff that he would bring her down, to which the teenager replied by assuring him that she would be the winner of the rally.
"Yeah okay. I'll win this rally, bro. My backhand and your forehand? I'll take this all day," Gauff said.
After some friendly banter and a few returns, the 18-year-old got the better of Tiafoe as the crowd erupted in joy.
Gauff turned to social media to share a post that had a clip of the rally with the following caption:
"Comfy there, @marta_kostyuk ? CocoGauff gets the bragging rights over @FTiafoe."
The World No. 7 retweeted the post and expressed her happiness in beating Tiafoe.
"waited my whole life for this," Coco Gauff captioned her tweet.
@FTiafoe twitter.com/australianopen…
waited my whole life for this 💀ðŸ˜@FTiafoe twitter.com/australianopen…
Coco Gauff won the ASB Classic ahead of the Australian Open 2023
Former World No. 3 Coco Gauff won the ASB Classic singles title in Auckland, a week before the start of the 2023 season's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open. The 18-year-old did not drop a single set en route to her title win. The teenager beat wildcard entrant, former Grand Slam winner Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-4, in the round of 16.
She beat seventh seed Danka Kovinic, 6-0, 6-2, to make it to the final. Up against Rebeka Masarova, the top seed sealed her win with a 6-1, 6-1 win over the Spaniard.
At the Australian Open, the American is seeded at No. 7. Coco Gauff's best result at the year's first Grand Slam was in 2020 when the teenager reached the fourth round where she lost to eventual winner Kenin.