Coco Gauff calls out ridiculous players who cheat in training

United States tennis star Coco Gauff didn’t care if a ball was in or out during training. However, she revealed at Wimbledon that she deliberately avoids certain players because they take themselves too seriously and often to cheat.

Remember that this is during excercise— no real competition!

Gauff, who had an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Caroline Dolehide on Monday, was asked if she had ever been cheated on by another player. The 20-year-old American joked to the reporter that he might have overheard her recent conversation on the subject.

No, yeah, I mean, I’m not going to say who, but we had a conversation about how some players on tour call the lines a little bit too much in practice. So we had a laugh about that.

—Coco Gauff

While she declined to name names, Gauff revealed that certain players make training uncomfortable. When there is no legitimate stake, their blatant focus on what goes in and what goes out proves exhausting.

But yeah, there are girls, I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, who do it. I don’t really blame them. If we’re in a real competition, what’s the point? But a lot of times it’s probably girls who maybe cheated in juniors and just have the habit.

—Coco Gauff

As a result, Gauff deliberately avoids certain players. She doesn’t want to get worked up over something so trivial, so she simply doesn’t practice with the women who go too far.

Usually I try to practice with people who don’t do that, just to avoid frustration. I’m not going to second-guess the girl. I’m not going to say, “Hey, that was kind of in.” I’m just going to fake it, just move on.

—Coco Gauff

Gauff would not name the perpetrators, but clarified that it was “not someone you would think.” More specifically, it is not Yelena Ostapenko, who has been debating decisions during matches for years.

Ostapenko is training as if it is training and not as if it is a Grand Slam final.

I know people will probably think and say maybe Ostapenko because she does that. But no, she’s actually one of my favorite people to practice with. She’s just funny. I think in general she thinks sometimes her ball is in there, but she doesn’t do it in practice. They’re definitely different people.

—Coco Gauff

We can also rule out Emma Raducanu. The 21-year-old British phenom was asked the same question. Her approach to the practice is similar to Gauff’s.

Form me when we practice playing points, if it’s an inch in, and an inch out, it doesn’t necessarily matter. Like at the end of the day it’s practice.

When I look at it, for some players it’s the biggest thing. It’s like, let them have it. It doesn’t really matter.

—Emma Raducanu

There is no need to sweat the small stuff during training. It is not a real competition. The stakes are zero.

Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu agree on this topic. They find players who cheat regularly during training ridiculous. It gets tiring to deal with all the dissatisfaction and sloppy line calls, so they try to avoid the biggest offenders as much as possible.