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Coco Gauff recently called on the tennis tours to be more active in terms of boosting the sport's pop culture appeal. According to Gauff, while players such as herself and ATP star Jannik Sinner are doing their bit, the tours aren't doing as much as far as increasing tennis' influence in the mainstream is concerned. The American WTA star also urged the tours to leverage TikTok more effectively.Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference in the buildup to her 2025 WTA Finals campaign, the World No. 3 and two-time singles Major champion said:"I don't think that tennis is doing enough to benefit from that (pop culture) considering I've gotten the lucky chance to meet so many celebrities over because of tennis and how many are like actively like really into it, know everything like a couple of people I've met doing book clubs on the sport and everything, people you wouldn't expect and I mean me personally as being like a Gen Z like I definitely think the TikTok audience can be reached a lot more."Going on to talk about tennis influencers and how they leverage TikTok effectively to grow their own brands, Coco Gauff opined that the tours should take a leaf out of the influencers' book."I feel like TikTok is one of those apps that just transcend everything and make those connections and we do have users who are making fashion TikToks and we have tennis influencers doing their things and that's just them on their own. So I definitely think we can do more as a sport of capitalizing off of it, marketing it," she added.The 21-year-old concluded by bringing up Jannik Sinner's collaboration with Gucci as well as her own collaboration with Miu Miu, opining that players are doing everything in their capacity to bridge the gap between tennis and pop culture. However, according to Gauff, it's not the players' responsibility alone to solidify tennis' mainstream presence."But I don't think it's necessarily the players' job because I feel like that part is doing the job. I just saw Jannik did Gucci, I did Miu Miu, so I think we're doing as players a good job. I definitely think the tours and the Slams can capitalize off of it more," Coco Gauff concluded. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostOn the tennis front, Gauff had a rather chastening experience in the first match of her WTA Finals title defense.Coco Gauff loses to compatriot Jessica Pegula as American's WTA Finals title defense starts with erratic displayJessica Pegula (left) and Coco Gauff (right) at the 2025 WTA Finals (Source: Getty)Jessica Pegula registered a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Coco Gauff in the Round Robin phase of the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While Pegula produced a solid performance, the match once more brought Gauff's serve and forehand under scrutiny. The 21-year-old made 17 double faults and 45 unforced errors on her forehand, effectively handing multiple games to Pegula on a platter.Things aren't going to get any easier for the defending WTA Finals champion, with the American set to clash against the crafty Jasmine Paolini from Italy next, on Tuesday, November 4. Paolini lost her opener as well; a 3-6, 1-6 defeat at the hands of reigning No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.If Gauff loses to Paolini, her chances of progressing to the semifinals will be rendered quite slim.
