Coco Gauff apologizes to WTA after accidentally leaking information she was told not to | Tennis | sport

Tennis star Coco Gauff was left red-faced after appearing to leak information about her participation in the WTA Finals before it was officially announced.

The 20-year-old was beaten by world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in a hard-fought semi-final at the Wuhan Open. Gauff won the first set, but eventually succumbed to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat and missed out on reaching the main event in China.

However, the American’s run to the last four guaranteed her a place on the WTA Tour’s 2024 season closer to Riyadh in November, which features the top eight ranked players in the women’s game and features a prize of 11.7 million pounds ($15.3 million).

Although the spots have yet to be officially confirmed, Gauff accidentally revealed at his press conference that he had qualified in response to a question about whether he would get there.

“I saw that I qualified in the ranking race. Wow, they (WTA) said they didn’t announce it yet!” Gauff told reporters.

The only Grand Slam winner was forced to apologize for her small mistakes after inadvertently leaking the information. She then burst out laughing before explaining that there is an unofficial ranking website that calculates points live before the WTA releases its rankings.

“If you look it up online, there’s a checkmark with my name on it. I was told not to say anything. I’m sorry. But it’s because of my name,” Gauff added. “You can look it up, I’m there. I found out maybe two days ago. I don’t remember what round, for (the) quarters or something.”

The WTA Finals host city debate has turned sour in recent weeks after drawing notable criticism from tennis icons Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova in an op-ed published by the Washington Post.

The couple expressed their opposition to hosting the tournament in the Gulf nation, which does not have a favorable human rights record. But Gauff insisted he is looking forward to the event.

“I’m very happy to be qualified. I’m happy to go there. Honestly, going in it was like ‘whatever happens, happens,'” she added.

“Obviously you want to make the most of it. I think it’s my third in a row. It’s the first time I’m not playing doubles, so it’s going to be a different experience.

“But I’m excited, I’m looking at dresses. They have a lot planned for us. I’m super excited, I hear it’s going to be great.”