“Awful”- Coco Gauff faces merciless online trolls as she fights tooth and nail to secure a spot in the semifinals at the 2024 Australian Open

World No. 37 Marta Kostyuk and World No. 4 Coco Gauff are up against each other in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. 

It is a second meetup between the two players. Both players met for the only time prior to this in Adelaide International 2022. During which the American beat the Ukrainian in three sets. It is expected to be a top-notch thriller between two high-performing players.

In the first set, Marta Kostyuk started off the match really well with her serves, putting real pressure on the American. At one moment in the match, the Ukrainian was leading by 4-1 in the first set. 

However, Gauff came back strongly from behind, breaking back-to-back serves to make it 5-4, one point behind Kostyuk. The momentum was completely on the side of Gauff, and she equalized Kostyuk with a serve. 

The match went into the tiebreaker, in which the American had the upper hand and cliched the first set. With this, Gauff still kept her record intact of not dropping a set in the tournament. 

Coco Gauff comes back from 1-5 down, saves a set point in the tiebreak and leads Marta Kostyuk 7-6(6) in 76 (!) minutes.

Honestly one of the worst sets I've watched in a long, long time. And this is a Slam QF. pic.twitter.com/qhzKCr4s7Y

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) January 23, 2024

However, surprisingly enough, fans have been pretty unhappy with the course of the match, especially Gauff. The first set of the match caused a flurry of online trolls on Twitter for the numerous errors caused by World No. 4 during the first set of the match. 

Coco Gauff faces online trolls for making numerous errors in the quarterfinals against Marta Kostyuk

The flurry of errors in the first set, including the tiebreaker, has caused several online trolls. Many fans have been calling it one of the worst sets of this Australian Open. 

Honestly one of the worst sets I've watched in a long, long time. And this is a Slam QF.

One of the fans posted on Twitter

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

Me trying to make sense of that set: pic.twitter.com/bSDoByK6wu

— Big Gold Belt Media (@BigGoldBelt) January 23, 2024

WTA is a joke! A series of error after error

— Gudu Kassa የቀድሞው ስርአት ናፋቂ (@GuduKassa102) January 23, 2024

So ugly…??‍♀️??‍♀️

— karen gainey (@kenyakaren) January 23, 2024

Gauff somehow wins a hot mess of a first set 7-6. Double faults, errors, nerves, momentum swings, the lot.

It’s giving pic.twitter.com/wup78sYtjX

— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 23, 2024

Awful

— Jacob Green Agent (@Pickleballcap) January 23, 2024

This is ugly. Sabie gonna roll to this title.

— Kevin Moore (@Kevrmoore) January 23, 2024

Dreadful.

— Alyssa Williams ???? (@AlyssaW667) January 23, 2024

At the time of writing, the American is currently leading in the second set with 4-3 to Kostyuk. The pressure is immense on Kostyuk, being one set down. With the ticket to the semifinals on the line, both players would want to give it their all in the match. 

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