Coco Gauff’s tit for tat with trolls

Coco Gauff. Pic/Coco’s Instagram

America's two-time Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff recently revealed that she has an interesting way to shut down her critics on social media, playing what the modern generation terms as the ‘Uno reverse card' against trolls.

Speaking at the ongoing Canadian Open about how she deals with online critics, the current World No. 4 said: "I'll just block it [negative comments], if it's something I don't like. Sometimes I will respond to some people or troll people. I also do like to - like whenever somebody comments something mean - I might just comment back like an emoji, like a smiley face or something. I feel like that riles people up."

Gauff was subject to online trolling after she lost to Czechia's Karolina Muchova 2-6, 6-1, 6-7 (10-12) in the semi-finals of Wimbledon in July, and even in the aftermath of that result, she had said the best way to respond to haters is by tagging their social media handles whenever she wins next.

The 22-year-old will be keen to build some steam heading into her home tournament, the US Open (August 23 to September 13), where she will hope to recreate her triumph from 2023, and add a third major title to her name.