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WNBA star Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
United States tennis star Coco Gauff captured the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, which prompted a social media message from the 20-year-old in the wake of her surprise win.
That message, in turn, brought a response from WNBA star Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
“Muah 👄💜 Also, I know [that I] tend to focus on ‘doubters/haters,’ but this one is really for all of my supporters!” Gauff posted to X on November 9. “Ya’ll held it down for me, win or lose! I thank you for that. I see you and I appreciate you. And I know some of you are a little bit petty like me, so it does feel nice to silence them for a bit 🤗.”
Reese shared Gauff’s post, including an emphatic two-word response of her own.
“QUEEN!!! CONGRATSSSS 👑👸,” Reese wrote.
Gauff, 20, came up short in the sport’s four major events this season but won a record $4.8 million prize after she defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng over the weekend, who captured the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Gauff entered the tournament as the No. 3 ranked player in the world and upset top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a semi-final match to earn her spot in the finals against Zheng.
Reese, 22, has a good deal in common with Gauff as a prominent Black, female athlete whose popularity in American sports has skyrocketed at a young age.
Angel Reese Among New Generation of Outspoken Athletes
GettyAngel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
Reese has been vocal ever since her initial rise to stardom as a member of the LSU Tigers women’s basketball team, which won a National Title in 2023. She has also always been unapologetic about her willingness to speak her mind, as well as the manner in which she chooses to do so.
Most recently, Reese took to social media to share her disappointment with the most U.S. presidential election, in which Republican candidate and now President-Elect Donald Trump defeated Democratic candidate and sitting Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I’m so disappointed in America,” Reese wrote in an X post on November 6. “Some of you just couldn’t selfishly put your pride aside huh??!?!?”
Reese’s initial message has received north of 20.5 million views in the past four days. She followed it up with another post a little less than one hour later.
“As a woman, I’m heartbroken for us all,” Reese continued.
Angel Reese’s WNBA Rookie Season Cut Short by Injury
GettyWNBA star Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
Reese entered the WNBA in the 2024 draft as the 7th overall pick of the Sky.
She immediately dominated in the paint, specifically on the glass, averaging 13.1 rebounds per game across 34 contests played, according to Basketball Reference.
Reese added 13.6 points, 1.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game on her way to making the All-Star Team and finished second in Rookie of the Year Award voting behind only Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever.
Reese’s first professional season was cut six games short due to a wrist injury she suffered in September.
Max Dible covers the NFL, NBA and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns. He covered local and statewide news as a reporter for West Hawaii Today and served as news director for BigIslandNow.com and Pacific Media Group’s family of Big Island radio stations before joining Heavy. More about Max Dible
