Coco Gauff was feeling “really upset” after her dramatic first-round win at the U.S. Open on Monday until she came face-to-face with the Obamas.
The 19-year-old American — who edged German qualifier Laura Siegemund in front of a rowdy crowd at Flushing Meadows — had an unexpected meeting with former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, just minutes before her post-match press conference.
“So, my mood is a little bit nicer,” Gauff joked after the 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback. “Maybe I’m saying nicer things than I actually planned on!
“That lightened my mood. I literally texted, I was like, ‘That’s brightened my mood so much.’”
The No. 6 seed, who described her first-round win as “ugly,” explained the Obamas were happy with how she handled herself when Gauff expressed her frustration to umpire Marijana Veljovic over her opponent’s slow pace.
“I haven’t soaked it in because I literally just walked in here,” Gauff said. “I think I’m going to never forget that moment for the rest of my life. I went from being really upset after a win to, like, being really happy. So, I’m glad I got to meet them.
“They gave me some good advice, too. They just told me how I handle myself in these situations.
“[Michelle Obama] said it’s good to speak up for myself. I think she was happy that I spoke up for myself today!”
Gauff explained her frustration while battling against Siegemund — who also complained to the umpire about her opponent’s “almost unreasonably fast” pace — and said the only regret she had was not speaking up sooner.
“I really don’t like confrontation all that much,” Gauff said. “I was thinking about it the whole match. I wasn’t sure if I was in the right or not until it happened multiple times… I wanted to express my frustration, but also being censored. I didn’t want any bombs to fly or anything.
“… If I could do it all over again, I would have said something earlier. I actually watched the video back when I was taking the ice bath. I wanted to be sure before I came in here. Sometimes you have these emotions, you forget what you said. I would still say everything I said in that moment again.”
Gauff said she wasn’t aware that the Obamas were in attendance until she was told after the match that they wanted to greet her.
“I saw the Secret Service,” she recalled. “I didn’t know if it was Mr. [Joe] Biden and Mrs. [Jill] Biden. I knew it was somebody. Then I heard that maybe Mr. [Bill] Clinton was coming. I didn’t know who exactly it was. So I didn’t know until after the match.
“I didn’t see them in the presidential box. I was obviously looking at that, but they weren’t I guess in my eyeline. But afterwards, yeah, they told me they wanted to say hi. I’ve met Mrs. Obama before. They told me it was just her initially. Then Mr. Obama was there in the room, too. I was like, ‘Oh, my God!’”
The Obamas were in attendance at the U.S. Open to celebrate 50 years of awarding equal prize money to male and female competitors at Flushing Meadows, which the former First Lady acknowledged on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Today I was honored to celebrate @BillieJeanKing and the 50th anniversary of equal prize money at the @USOpen,” she wrote.
“Billie Jean didn’t just change tennis — she changed the future on and off the court for women and girls in the decades since.”
Gauff will face 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva of Russia Wednesday in the second round.
