American teenage tennis star Coco Gauff has advice for newly crowned US Open Champion Emma Raducanu. No, it’s not on her serve, it’s to lay off social media.
Gauff urged Raducanu to take time away from her phone as they gear up for the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
“Because it is exciting when you get all the retweets, all the follows and all of that, but it can be a bit overwhelming. At least in my experience. That’s probably what I wish I would’ve known, not to focus on social media,” Gauff told reporters.
Gauff knows what instant fame feels like. When she was 15, she defeated Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon and became an instant fan favorite that carried to a run at the 2019 US Open later that summer.
Gauff has steadily moved up the ranks, where Raducanu went from unknown to Grand Slam champ in one stunning summer. Raducanu advanced to the fourth round in Wimbledon, then rolled through 10 straight matches at the US Open — including three qualifiers — to earn the title.
It has been a media whirlwind for the 18-year-old, who now has 2 million followers on Instagram and over 600 thousand on Twitter. Her Instagram shows her putting in work on the tennis courts as well as attending the MET gala draped in Chanel.
Raducanu, though. appears to be keeping her eyes on the prize and not letting her new fame impede her focus.
“It felt nice to receive the support, everyone’s nice messages but I didn’t get too caught up in it,” said Raducanu, who set up an account on Chinese microblogging site Weibo to keep in touch with her fans in China (Raducanu’s mom is of Chinese descent).
Gauff does have a preferred social media outlet when she is trying to stay in the zone before a match.
“For me, the best app when I’ve got a match is TikTok if I want to get my mind off stuff,” Gauff said.
The two teens have first round byes this week with Gauff seeded 15th and Raducanu 17th at the hardcourt event.