Aug 28 (Reuters) – Coco Gauff has had enough of the acquaintances who vanish for a year and resurface only when they want free tickets to see her compete in the U.S. Open.
“To be honest, yeah, people come out of the woodwork. You haven’t spoken to someone for years. They don’t say congrats or happy birthday or nothing, then they’re like, Oh, I’m in New York, can I have eight tickets to your match in your box, please,” fourth seed Gauff told reporters on Friday.
Gauff’s comments came a day after her mother posted a message on Instagram telling family and friends to stop asking for tickets, a post the two-time Grand Slam champion said she had no idea was coming but felt was overdue.
“I see this post, and I’m, like, Oh, my goodness. But honestly, it was needed, and it was directed, yeah, towards a few family and friends,” said Gauff.
The Instagram post began with a “blunt, but necessary statement” saying her daughter’s guest ticket requests for the U.S. Open had already been accounted for, before instructing friends and family to purchase their own tickets and never ask for more than two in future.
Gauff said she suspects a specific incident pushed her mother to finally speak out.
“I don’t know who the person who sent her a text this year where she felt that was like the final straw. But somebody must have sent her something, and she was just, like, I need to make a post,” said Gauff.
“Specifically in New York, it’s just crazy. … But some of the requests, you would be surprised at how absurd they are.”
Gauff, who will face Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in the first round of the U.S. Open, said she is happy to hand out tickets to those who genuinely support her, but that figuring out who falls into that category has become its own challenge.
“If you want to come, come. But I’m just, like, if I haven’t heard from you all year and you hit me up, our last text is you hit me up for tickets, I don’t know if you’re there for — because I do some things throughout the year,” said Gauff.
“You can wish me happy birthday or something, so I think it’s just trying to navigate those things.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
