Coco Gauff Reveals Secret Social Media Interaction With Carlos Alcaraz in Her Early Years on Tour

Coco Gauff is chasing her first French Open titles title, while Carlos Alcaraz is playing as a defending champion.

Coco Gauff Reveals Secret Social Media Interaction With Carlos Alcaraz in Her Early Years on Tour

Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff (Image via X/Tennis TV)

Back in 2019, when Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz were newcomers, he texted her after her stunning performance at Wimbledon. Alcaraz, however, got the response from her only after he lifted his first Grand Slam title at the 2022 US Open.

Both the players are in Paris participating in the French Open. During an interview with Bleacher Report, Gauff was asked about her “funniest DM” and she recalled the interaction with the Spaniard.

I think I did well at Wimbleton in 2019, and Alcaraz DM’d me saying, ‘Hey Coco, do you remember me?’ because we won the Junior Fed Cup at the same time, both our countries, and I didn’t remember him. So I didn’t respond, obviously, like 4 or 5, or maybe 6 years later.

Coco Gauff said

During her 2019 Wimbledon campaign, Gauff, a qualifier then, knocked out seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the first round before losing to eventual winner Simona Halep in the fourth round. Her first Grand Slam title didn’t come before the 2023 US Open. Alcaraz, on the other hand, went past Casper Ruud in the 2022 US Open final.

He won the US Open. Then I DM’d congratulations. But if you look at our DM’s, our spread is like, ‘Hey, do you remember me?’ and me DM’ing his congratulations. I felt bad that I didn’t respond.

Coco Gauff added

Alcaraz has entered the Roland Garros as the defending champion. Last year, he went past World No.3 Alexander Zverev, who he is projected to meet in the final. After breezing past Giulio Zeppieri in the first round, the four-time Grand Slam champion survived a scare against Fabian Marozsan. He will next lock horns with Damir Dzumhur, who went past Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the previous round.

Alcaraz is chasing his fourth title of the season as prior to the French Open, he lifted the Rotterdam Open, the Monte Carlo Masters, and the Italian Open. He reached the final of the three tournaments he played on clay, losing only the Barcelona Open.

Paul Annacone backs Coco Gauff to win the French Open

Coco Gauff is chasing her first title of the season. After winning the 2024 WTA Finals by beating Qinwen Zheng, Gauff made a strong start to the season but after her defeat in the Australian Open quarterfinals, she produced poor results in the next five tournaments she played. But she got back to winning ways in Madrid, reaching the final but faltered against World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

The 21-year-old reached consecutive finals when she made it to the championship match of the Italian Open but lost the match to home favorite Jasmine Paolini. Gauff is a finalist in the clay-court Major in singles, reaching the last stage in 2022 which she lost to five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

In doubles, however, Gauff won the French Open last year along with Katerina Siniakova. Last year in the French Open singles, Gauff was defeated in the semifinals by eventual winner Swiatek. According to Roger Federer‘s former coach Paul Annacone, Gauff has improved her movement on clay as well as her forehand, calling her the favorite to win the tournament.

She went out and started off extremely well. Coco has built up so much confidence during the clay court season already, feeling really good. I would argue that she is the favorite in this tournament.

Paul Annacone told the Tennis Channel Live podcast

Gauff breezed past Olivia Gadecki to kick-start her campaign in the clay-court Major. She will next be facing qualifier Tereza Valentova, who went past Frenchwoman Chloe Paquet.

Also read: Joao Fonseca Honors ‘Legend’ Gustavo Kuerten After Commanding Opening Round win at Roland Garros