Coco Gauff became the youngest Grand Slam finalist in 18 years at the French Open on Thursday and used her historic performance by writing “peace, end gun violence” on a courtside TV camera to demand action on mass shootings in the United States .
American star Gauff (18) will take on world number one Inga Swietake in the final after beating Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1 in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Applause on social media for the teenager:
“Peace. And Gun Violence”, wrote Coco Gauff after booking her spot in the camera lens #Roland Garros The last. pic.twitter.com/i3o3XU1hYo
— Darcy Bennett (@Darcey_Bennett_) 2 June 2022
18-year-old American, Coco Gauff, advances to the final of the French Open and writes “end gun violence” on camera. pic.twitter.com/Esok0UqZ5C
— healthy white (@sundewhiteart) 2 June 2022
After moving into the biggest match of her career, Coco Gauff wrote “End gun violence” on camera pic.twitter.com/7O0avmtq1C
— D’Arcy Maine (@darcymaine_espn) 2 June 2022
“End gun violence,” Gauff writes on camera. pic.twitter.com/j5Pv88f8le
— Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) 2 June 2022
Before making her plea for gun control at home, she insisted that the recent tragedies meant she would equally consider victory or defeat in a championship match.
“Yeah it’s a Grand Slam final, but there’s a lot of things going on in the world, especially in the US – I think it’s important not to emphasize the tennis match,” she said in her on-court TV interview.
Gough was speaking just hours after a gunman killed at least four people in a hospital building in Tulsa, Oklahoma – the latest in a string of mass shootings across the United States in recent weeks.
The killings come as Texas families buried their dead after a school shooting killed 19 young children eight days earlier.
The winning players at the French Open are invited to write a message on a courtside TV camera. Usually they are light-hearted, often making monotonous announcements.
However, Gauff seized his chance in front of a global TV audience, hoping his gun control message would “get into the heads of people in the office to hopefully turn things around”.
“The first thing my father said to me after I left the court, I am proud of you and I love what you wrote on camera.”
Gough said he did not plan to write the message that he should have won the match at the Roland Garros showpiece Philippe Chattier Court.
“Just in that moment and it felt right to write it. I woke up this morning and saw there was another shoot happening, and I think it’s just crazy.”
Gough hoped that living in Europe would help spread his message to a wider audience.
“I know people all over the world are definitely watching,” she said.
Gough pointed out that the February 2018 death of 17 students at the Parkland school in Florida at the hands of a teenage gunman brought the issue into increasingly individual focus.
Some of his close friends were present at that time.
“Luckily they were able to come out of it. I think it’s crazy, I think I was probably 13 or 14 when it happened, and still nothing has changed.”
Gauff insists that she will continue to speak on political and social issues now that she turns 18 and has the right to vote.
“When I was little, my father told me that I could change the world with my racket. He just didn’t like to play tennis. He meant to speak on such issues.”
(with inputs from agencies)
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.