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Coco Gauff continues to speak against violence amidst her dream run at Roland Garros
Coco Gauff is certainly winning hearts both on and off the court. As Coco Gauff reached her first grand slam final at the French Open, defeating Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 to become the youngest grand slam finalist since Maria Sharapova in 2004, she departed Court Philippe Chatrier with a message. About the recent mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and many others, Gauff wrote: “Peace. End gun violence,” on the camera as she left the court.
Gauff clarified her message later on in the post-match press conference. “I think for me it was just especially important just being in Europe and being where I know people globally around the world are for sure watching. I think that this is a problem in other parts of the world, but especially in America it’s a problem that’s, frankly, been happening over some years but obviously now it’s getting more attention. But for me it’s been an issue for years“, said the teenager.
She further added, “For me, it’s kind of close to home. I had some friends that were a part of the Parkland shooting. I remember watching that whole experience pretty much firsthand, seeing and having friends go through that whole experience.”
Gauff is scheduled to play the Roland Garros final against Iga Swiatek on Saturday evening.
Coco Gauff might just be a teenager but she has always been vocal about various issues since arriving on the tour at 15 in 2019, including speaking out about climate emergencies and even giving a speech during a Black Lives Matter march in 2020.
During this tournament itself, she had taken to social media to reveal how heartbroken she is about the Texas shooting. Nineteen young children and two adults died in a shooting at a primary school in south Texas last week.
“I’m so heartbroken to hear the news of what happened in Texas… my heart goes out to all of the families, kids, and everyone involved. we all NEED to do better for our young youth”, Gauff had earlier tweeted.
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