Coco Gauff has revealed a very specific reason why she takes to Twitter after her games: to check out what her fans think of her outfit.
The New Balance-sponsored tennis superstar was once again in great form at the US Open on Wednesday night, advancing to the second round in just over an hour.
At her press conference afterwards, a reporter asked her how she deals with abuse on social media, and Gauff revealed that there’s only one thing that brings her to Twitter.
“Twitter, I’m not really on Twitter,” she began. “I only check it once after matches to see what people think of my outfit. Oh, and I also checked to see Naomi’s (Osaka) outfit, because I heard about it but I didn’t see it, and her outfit is cool too.
‘Instagram is up for 24 hours, so I’ll be up until the end of tomorrow and then I’ll be gone. Well, on my main account… I have subscription accounts, so I don’t watch any tennis.
Coco Gauff spoke to the media about how she deals with abuse on social media after matches
Gauff won her US Open second-round match in just over an hour
‘I’m on TikTok most of the time, but I also have burnout, so I don’t watch tennis. I’m on social media all the time, it just depends on whether I’m on my real account or not.
‘Twitter is the only one I’m not on at all, because even with the disposable phone they hear me talking and I don’t know, my name appears. I don’t know if that’s real, but I believe in it.’
Social media abuse of sports stars has become a huge problem in recent years and despite being hugely popular, Gauff is not immune to it.
She went on to talk about how she avoids seeing negativity online, while also spending much of her free time browsing various social media platforms.
“You hear a lot of nasty things, people talking about your appearance, your family’s appearance and all that stuff,” she said. “If you’re already struggling with your own mental issues and then you have all these people digging deeper, it’s tough.
‘Personally, I just block… I literally spend 30 minutes blocking everyone, I don’t really care.
The young American explained that she uses Twitter to see fans’ reactions to her outfit.
She also wanted to take a look at photos of Naomi Osaka’s striking look on Tuesday.
‘I noticed a little problem on Twitter because I was blocking a lot of people and they were like, “If you say something, he blocks you.” Yeah, I do. I don’t want to see him, so bye!
‘I don’t really care, I have no right to read negative things about myself. Just like you have the right to write them, I have the right to block them. I just try not to read them too much or take them personally.
“I hope that as technology advances, AI can help. You can be having a good day and all of a sudden someone literally says, ‘Go kill yourself.’ And you’re like, ‘Okay, thanks.’ It sucks. Hopefully AI can help in the future.”
Following her second-round win over Tatjana Maria, the third-seeded American will face a tougher test against Elina Svitolina in the third round on Friday.
