Even without anything on the line, Coco Gauff revealed some of her peers still don’t play by the rules.
In the lead-up and during tournaments, pros will practice with one another to maintain their sharpness in the hopes of enjoying a deep run.
Not every one of Gauff’s practice sessions has gone according to planGettyHowever, some evidently take the practice sessions more seriously than others.
As a result, Gauff was forced to take drastic action.
Speaking at Wimbledon last year, Gauff was asked during a press conference whether she had been ‘cheated by another player’.
It prompted an eye-opening response from the two-time grand slam champion, who cheekily claimed the reporter in question might have been eavesdropping.
“I feel like you might have heard a conversation me and another player had,” Gauff said.
“No, yeah, I mean, I’m not going to say who, but we had a conversation about how some players on tour do like to call the lines a little bit too much in practice. So we were having like a laugh out of that.”
Gauff went on to admit she actively avoided practicing with players she knows are a little overzealous when it comes to close calls.
“But yeah, there are some girls, I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, that will do it,” Gauff said.
“For me, I don’t really take any offence. If we’re in a real match, what’s the point?
“But a lot of times it’s probably girls who maybe were like cheaters in juniors and they just have the habit.
The 21-year-old spilled the tea on how some of her rivals act during practiceGETTY“Yeah, but most of the time I try to practice with people who don’t do that just to save frustration. I’m not going to question the girl. I’m not going to be like, ‘Hey, that was kind of in.’ I’ll be like, ‘Whatever, just move on.'”
Although contentious line calls from practice partners may be the least of Gauff’s worries, there won’t be any of those for the entire field at this year’s Wimbledon.
That’s because the tournament has undergone a monumental change that has never happened in its 148-year history.
This year’s iteration of Wimbledon will mark the first time humans won’t be calling balls in or out at the courts.
The drastic change was announced in October 2024, as the line judges would be replaced by technology.
Wimbledon is not the first grand slam to have gotten rid of line judges, with the Australian Open and US Open making the switch in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Gauff won’t have a case to argue should the ball be called out at this year’s WimbledonIt leaves the French Open as the only grand slam to persist with human line judges.
As for Gauff, she goes into this year’s Wimbledon with only one grass-court match under her belt.
That came in the form of a 6-3, 6-3 loss to Chinese qualifier Xinyu Wang in the first round of the Berlin Open.
Gauff will be hoping to enjoy her deepest run yet at Wimbledon having failed to progress beyond the fourth round in five visits.
However, the American will be buoyed by the fact she won the French Open earlier this month.
She overcame world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4, with the result sparking a controversial remark from the Belarusian in her press conference.
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