Coco
Gauff recently acknowledged that she always supports
Danielle Collins and Tommy
Paul. The world No. 3 was eliminated in the semifinals of the
Rome Open against
world No. 1
Iga Swiatek (6-4, 6-3), but she had words of appreciation for the
other Americans who reached the same stage.
Including
Gauff, there were three American representatives in the semifinals, although
both female competitors in the draw lost. Collins couldn't get past Aryna
Sabalenka and ended up losing 5-7, 2-6, while Paul is still in the competition
and will face Chilean
Nicolas Jarry for a spot in the final.
Gauff expresses her support for Collins and Paul
The 2023 US Open
champion congratulated
Tommy Paul after his win against
Hubert Hurkacz (7-5,
3-6, 6-3) and also had kind words for Collins, who had defeated Victoria
Azarenka in the quarterfinals (6-4, 6-3).
A
journalist asked Gauff: "I know you just lost, but there's been three
Americans in the semifinals with Tommy Paul just winning, Danielle playing
tonight. What do you attribute this American success here to this week?
Danielle told us about the camaraderie, the dinner everybody had this week.
What are your thoughts?" he asked the world No. 3.
“Well, I think today Tommy, he just played
really well. I think Danielle has been on a string of wins lately. I think we
just all root for each other and push for each other,”
Coco Gauff said. “Specifically
Tommy and Danielle are people that I always root for, even though I wouldn't
necessarily say we're super close. We speak all the time. Danielle and I, I
love her.”
![collinsrome](https://r.testifier.nl/Acbs8526SDKI/resizing_type:fit/watermark:Picture%3A%20IMAGO/width:1280/plain/https://s3-newsifier.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/tennisuptodate.com/images/2024-05/collinsrome-66450586a6155.jpg@webp)
Collins won 19 of her last 21 matches. Only Sabalenka was able to defeat her in their two encounters.
“Me
and her got closer after the Billie Jean King Cup we did together. She's just a
great person honestly. I love to see her do well. I think if you ask her, she
loves to see me do well,” Gauff stated.
“I
think it is a camaraderie. I think it does push us to be better. I think on
clay people underestimate Americans and they think we hate the European swing.
I was hoping maybe I could win and Tommy could win and it would be an American
sweep,” she said. “But if it's not me, I would love for it to be Danielle. If
this is her farewell tour, I think she deserves it a lot. I was hoping I could
win today to play her in the final.”