Coco Gauff jokingly takes jab at trophy ceremony as she makes 'horror list' after Rome Open final defeat

Coco Gauff was on the end of a painful 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2 defeat to Elina Svitolina in the final of the Rome Open, again losing in the final at Foro Italico. However, that was not the worst part of it as she jokingly ticked off a list of events worse than it, notably through the trophy ceremony which was described as a 'horror movie.'

Gauff fought hard in the final, like she had done over the whole tournament. She survived a match point in the last-16 against Iva Jovic while coming back from a set deficit in all-but two of her matches enroute to making it to successive finals in Rome.

She would come up against two-time champion Svitolina who already defeated her twice this year in contrasting manners. She was battered in Melbourne while an intense and enthralling battle in the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event Dubai just went the way of Svitolina.

After starting the brighter, Gauff was pegged back by a charging Svitolina who won four games in a row to seal the first set. She then put a lot of pressure on the Gauff serve but could not get the breakthrough. Late breaks were traded right at the end of the set before the American dominated the tiebreak to move back level.

Svitolina responded better. She enjoyed another four-game spurt in which she would take her third championship point and compound Gauff to more misery in the final of Rome.

On her Instagram story, Gauff listed her 'top 5 horror movies' all based after Svitolina sealed the title. "Top-5 horror movies: 1. Sitting through a trophy ceremony after you lose. 2. Talking after you lose. 3. Smiling with your finalist trophy.4. Sitting through trophy ceremony when you lose. 5. Ceremony after you lose," she wrote.

In much smaller writing, she clarified that it was a joke and that people should not take her list too seriously. "Also before the think pieces come... This is a joke and I'm smiling while writing this thought it would be funny. Not meant to be taken seriously lol before the people with no humour get mad."

Gauff will divert her attention away from that as she looks towards defending her Roland Garros title. She is in a good period of form, even if all her victories do not look overly convincing. She reached the final of the Miami Open before making the quarter-final in Stuttgart. Her Madrid Open final defence ended in the last-16 against Linda Noskova before her brilliant final run in Rome.

She will fancy her chances of adding a third Grand Slam title to her collection while doubling her tally at Roland Garros.