From Coco Gauff to Taylor Fritz: U.S. players address America’s political climate in Melbourne

As the Australian Open progresses, one question has become increasingly common in press conferences involving American players: the current political situation in the United States, amid both domestic and international tensions linked to President Donald Trump.

Recently, there has been extensive discussion about the tightening of U.S. visa policies, the mass arrests and deportations of migrants, as well as international controversies such as the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro or Trump’s threats to take Greenland by force.

The first to address the issue was two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff, soon followed by other leading names in American tennis, including Australian Open defending champion Madison Keys, world No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, and men’s world No. 9 Taylor Fritz.

One year has passed since the beginning of Trump’s term, and one of the most openly critical voices from the tennis world in the past has been Coco Gauff. The American, who has previously spoken out against Trump, was asked in Melbourne for her assessment after a year of his presidency. She expressed concern over issues related to human rights and made a call for peace in the country.

“I hope forward that we can have a lot more peace in our country and more kindness in the way we speak to each other about different topics and things like that,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said. “Obviously, I’ve been pretty vocal about how I felt. At this point, I feel a bit fatigued talking about it just because of the fact that it is hard also being a Black woman in this country and having to experience things, even online, and seeing marginalized communities being affected. And knowing that I can only donate and speak out. I try my best to do that.”

It has undoubtedly been a question that caught many Americans off guard in press conferences. One of the first to respond was 2024 US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, already through to the third round of the tournament. “I mean, not sure what we’re like specifically talking about, but there is a lot going on in the U.S., and I don’t know.”

“I feel like whatever I say here is going to get put in a headline, and it’s going to get taken out of context,” commented the former Indian Wells champion. “So, I’d really rather not do something that’s going to cause a big distraction for me in the middle of the tournament.”

Meanwhile, Australian Open defending champion Madison Keys also chose not to go into detail—clearly surprised by the question—and instead made a call for unity in the United States. “I think my stance has been pretty obvious. I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand, and I am hopeful that we as a country can come together and get back to the values that I think make our country great.”

“I am not a fan of divisiveness, and I think the beauty of the U.S. is we are a mixing pot,” the world No. 9 added. “We are very diverse. We are a home of immigrants, and I hope that we can get back to those values.”

While most players have refused to go too deeply into their political views, Jessica Pegula took the microphone to speak at greater length about the U.S. political situation. “I don’t like to kind of dabble too much into politics, just because it’s just not the space that I really want to say that much on,” Pegula said. “But yeah, I just hope that everybody can kind of, at some point, come together and work together as far as situations or whether it’s political or not political in our country.”

“I feel like, you know, we have a big country where there’s a lot of media attention on us too, and that’s tough because things definitely make their way around the world, and even me being in Australia, you hear about all these things going on back home,” she added. “But I just hope that we can come together at some point with a good dialogue where things can actually get accomplished, and things that we want to see accomplished, and it not be so divisive.”

After her response, Pegula was asked by a journalist about her perspective from living in Florida, and whether she has noticed a change in the general mood in the state. “Personally, Florida’s been, I think, okay. I think Florida, there’s a big melting pot of different people from all over,” she said. “Especially me being in South Florida near Miami, there are people from all over the country who move to Florida, and there are a lot of international people there.”

“So, I don’t know if that’s maybe why you get a lot of different cultural differences in a good way, honestly. So, Florida to me—at least where I live—has been fine.”