Coco Gauff calls US Open drama “just another week on tour”

NEW YORK—The first week of the 2025 US Open has been defined by spectacular crashouts, fans witnessing outbursts from Daniil Medvedev, Jelena Ostapenko, and Stefanos Tsitsipas following losing efforts in each of their respective first- and second-round matches.

Medvedev incurred a $42,500 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct during his late-evening clash with Benjamin Bonzi and chair umpire Greg Allensworth, while Ostapenko accused Taylor Townsend Townsend of having “no class and no education” and Tsitsipas demanded an apology from Daniel Altmaier for an underarm serve.

Safely into the second week with minimal drama, Coco Gauff was asked to comment on the state of the game, and the 2023 champion attempted to add both perspective and context to the rash of on-court confrontations:

Q. This first week has been quite a dramatic and stressful week in terms of Medvedev and Ostapenko and Tsitsipas as well. Is there anything about US Open, New York, that kind of brings that on, maybe makes people a bit more highly strung? I don’t know. Maybe the fact it’s the end of the year.

COCO GAUFF: Yeah, I think it’s, (a) end of the year; (b) we’re in New York, and the fans here -- I love them -- but, you know, they can definitely -- you’re on the wrong side of things, can -- they’re into the match. They’re passionate tennis fans. They know what’s going on, and they’re used to other events I think, like major events, happening in the city that aren’t tennis.

Then, I don’t know, I think, to be honest, with some of the drama, I feel like it happens frequently on tour, but because it’s here, it gets more social media clicks. Some of the players, these are reoccurring things that us in the tennis world it’s not surprising. It’s like, okay, whatever. But because it’s here in New York and maybe not as many tennis fans or things like that, it gets blown up on social media.

I think for us players it’s just another week on tour. But these things happen, I would say, more frequently than maybe the ones who just tune into the Grand Slams think.

Earlier in the week, Gauff came to the defense of Taylor Townsend after her countrywoman was on the receiving end of Ostapenko’s outburst, arguably the most high-profile incident of the tournament thus far.

“Knowing Taylor personally, she's the opposite of that,” Gauff said after her second-round victory over Donna Vekic. “She's one of the nicest people that I've ever met. Whenever I've had a tough moment on court, she's texting me, making sure, checking in on how I am.

“So yeah, I really hate to see that. Maybe this is some of the first people hearing who Taylor Townsend is, and I don't want that to be the main focus of who she is, because she's a lot more than that. She's a mom. She's a great friend. She's a talented tennis player and a good person.

So, I think at the end of this tournament I hope that people do a deep dive into her and get to know her more than what was said in the previous match.”

Townsend is certainly giving fans more to Google after the WTA doubles No. 1 shocked No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva to join Gauff in the second week; she and Gauff couldn’t face off in Flushing Meadows before the finals.