MELBOURNE: Despite claiming the graphic made them appear “awful,” Coco Gauff denied on Monday that she was offended by a United States Tennis Association (USTA) social media post that portrayed her and a few other American players as cartoon characters. The USTA had its seeded players painted in the manner of the Nickelodeon cartoon “The Wild Thornberrys” from the late 1990s to wish them luck at the Australian Open. Gauff said on Sunday, “Worst thing I’ve ever seen,” on Instagram. It’s as if someone decided to caricature us all and make us all look repulsive. For a cartoon show, the art style is great, but not for a hype post. obscene.” Later, the USTA post was removed.
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Speaking on Monday following her first-round victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Gauff claimed that her remarks were the product of her boredom in her hotel room and that she was not being serious. “No, I wasn’t angry,” I said. We looked terrible,” Gauff said to the press. “I’m just not sure if I want to be depicted in that manner… The USTA typically completes the hype posts, the seed, or anything else prior to the Slams.
