SPORTS·Sep 10, 2023 · BabylonBee.com
American tennis star Coco Gauff kneels to pray following her U.S. Open win. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
QUEENS, NY — As tennis champion Coco Gauff knelt on the court with her eyes closed and hands folded, puzzled ESPN commentators were left to wildly speculate as to what Ms. Gauff could possibly be doing.
“What do you make of it, Jean?” asked commentator Pam Shriver. “Perhaps it’s a new yoga pose? Never seen anything like it!”
As Ms. Gauff completed the mysterious ritual and rose to her feet, ESPN producers pored over prior videos. “It appears Ms. Gauff has performed this bizarre practice several times in the past,” said ESPN’s Bill Bonnell. “We’re still at a loss. The only similar thing we’ve ever seen was when people would kneel on one knee in honor of Tim Tebow, also known as ‘Tebowing’. Maybe Coco just doesn’t know how to ‘Tebow’ properly.”
Eventually, a low-level producer explained to ESPN that Ms. Gauff was praying. That producer was subsequently sacked, and the person who hired him was also sacked for good measure.
Coco Gauff claims first U.S. Open title, kneels in prayer to give thanks to God
By Cole Claybourn Sep 10, 2023 – Sports Spectrum
A straight-sets loss in the 2022 French Open final was tough for Coco Gauff to swallow. But on Saturday, she found herself in another Grand Slam final, and this time it was her moment.
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The 19-year-old U.S. tennis star defeated Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to claim her first Grand Slam title and become the first American teenager to win the tournament since Serena Williams in 1999.
After losing the first set 6-2, the sixth-seeded Gauff dominated the second and third sets to knock off the second-seeded Sabalenka. Following the match, Gauff was overcome with emotion, falling to the court in tears before running into the stands to embrace her family and coaches. Then she headed back to the court, where she kneeled at her chair and said a prayer to God.
“It’s been so important,” Gauff said after the match when asked about her faith by ESPN’s Mary Jo Fernandez. “I don’t pray for results, I just ask that I get the strength to give it my all and whatever happens happens. I’m so blessed in this life. So I’m just thankful for this moment. I don’t have any words for it, to be honest.”
American tennis star Coco Gauff kneels to pray following her U.S. Open win. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Gauff grew up attending the U.S. Open with her father as young child, watching Venus and Serena Williams ascend to the top of the tennis world. It was her dream to one day be on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium holding up the championship trophy.
“It means so much to me. I feel like I’m a little bit in shock in this moment,” Gauff told ESPN. “That French Open loss was a heartbreak for me, but I realized God puts you through tribulations and trials, and this makes this moment more sweeter than I could have imagined.”
Gauff broke onto the professional tennis scene in May 2018 and the age of 14, and since then she’s never shied away from talking about how important her faith in God is for her everyday life and her tennis career. As Sport and Faith reported, Gauff has done numerous interviews where she’s talked about how her faith has helped her stay humble as her fame has grown, and how she’s used her platform as an avenue to share about God.
In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, Gauff said she and her father pray before every match.
“Before every match since I was 8, my dad and I say a prayer together,” she said. “We don’t really pray about victory, just that me and my opponent stay safe. After the match, I was just thanking God for this opportunity.”
It’s no different on her social media pages, where she often talks about God, as she did following the end of the 2022 season.
“We live, we learn, but most importantly we keep trying,” she wrote. “2022 season is officially over and definitely one I’ll never forget. Thank you God for strengthening me at my lowest and highest points this season. #thebestisyettocome”
In August, Gauff won the Masters 1000 event at the Cincinnati Open, defeating Karolina Muchova in the championship. Once again, she thanked God following the match.
“This is unbelievable. Especially after what I went through in Europe earlier this summer,” she said. “I’m just happy to be in this moment. I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I spent a lot of nights alone, crying trying to figure it out. I still have a lot to figure out, but I thank Him for covering me.”
Sabalenka will be the No. 1-ranked player in the world come Monday, and Gauff will likely slide into the top five. She told Stylist Magazine that whether she’s winning or losing, her faith keeps her grounded.
“I try to stay positive and not let the negative things affect me too much,” she said. “My faith helps me stay focused on my goals and what I want to achieve.”
Tennis Star Coco Gauff Drops To Her Knees In Prayer After Winning U.S. Open Title
BY: BETH HERMAN – SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 – The Federalist
Congratulations Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American winner of the U.S. Open women’s singles title, her first Grand Slam.
In addition to Gauff’s victory, there were several other surprises this year: three Americans made it into the semifinals, Coco, Madison Keys, and a 20-year-old on the men’s side, Ben Shelton, who just completed his first full year on tour. But the most memorable moment, in my opinion, was when Gauff, after winning the final match, dropped to her knees and began to pray.
The 19-year-old had been a Grand Slam finalist before, losing badly to the number one player at the 2022 French Open. After a first-round loss at Wimbledon this year, Coco supplemented her team, which was comprised of primarily her parents, Candi and Corey. Veteran coaches Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert, who coached former champions Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, joined the Gauff camp.
Since that time her confidence has blossomed. Before this year’s U.S. Open, Gauff won two prestigious lead-up events this summer, the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington D.C., and the Western and Southern Open in Ohio.
The new coaching staff and hard work paid off in Saturday’s final, with her three-set win over the formidable Belarusian champion Aryna Sabalenka, who tried unsuccessfully to hit Gauff off the court. Coco’s emotional reaction, complete with tears from both she and her parents (it was, she said, the first time she saw her father cry), were wonderful to watch. But the icing on the cake was when Gauff dropped to her knees and began to pray.
“It was a beautiful act of gratitude,” my tennis-playing bestie, who is also a Christian, explained. “Not just praying for something good to happen, but giving thanks it did!”
In this day and age, it takes great courage and humility to thank God on live TV.
Sports commentators on the left — -and there are many — claimed not to see what was happening. ESPN’s “SportsCenter” reported that Gauff “took a moment to soak it all in after winning her first Grand Slam title.”
Thankfully, Super Bowl champion head coach and NBC commentator Tony Dungy set the record straight.
“I hate to break this to you SportsCenter but Coco Gauff was not ‘soaking it all in’ at this moment. She was praying. She has been very open about her Christian faith in the past. It seems pretty obvious what she is doing here,” Dungy wrote.
As tennis and tennis coverage gets increasingly woke, watching the sport without the lens of political correctness is extremely challenging. As a conservative and a fan, I enjoy the game by watching responsibly. This means skipping the preshow, opening ceremonies, and most interviews. Yet on Tennis Channel and ESPN, match commentators like Pam Shriver and Chris Evert shade their commentary with PC chatter, speaking on Saturday of Coco’s “social awareness” in addition to talking about her tennis game. But after she knelt down to pray, giving thanks to God for providing her the strength to persevere, they couldn’t think of anything more to add.
One thing is certain. Regardless of how hard the left tries, they cannot tamp the good stuff down. Of all the ceremonies, special guests and tightly crafted messages (“50 years of equal pay!” was printed on each court), the most inspiring moment of this year’s U.S. Open, was when an extraordinary young lady before millions of people, dropped to her knees and prayed, giving thanks for a hard-fought, well won victory.
Beth Herman is an artist, essayist, and school docent at The National Gallery of Art. In addition to The Federalist, her essays have been published in The Wall Street Journal, Legal Times, The Washington Times, and on NPR. When not at her easel or writing desk, Beth can be found out running with her husband of over 35 years, author and historian Arthur Herman.
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