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At Indian Wells, it’s not unusual to have as many as five or six press conferences with WTA players per day as the draw whittles down. Sometimes, players say funny or bizarre things that don’t fit into the story we are focusing on that day. Since the WTA had a rest Saturday between the Friday semifinals and Sunday final, here are some of Women’s Tennis Blog’s favorite moments of the last two weeks that did not make it into our other coverage.
Coco Gauff is as relatable as ever
At media day, a reporter asked Coco Gauff about the Rage Room at the Austin Open. It was a place for players to smash and break all sorts of things to get out their frustrations. The 21-year-old American had a flash of embarrassment and asked “That was real? I thought it was an AI.” Shaking her head and laughing she added, “My mom sent it to me, and I told her it was AI. She believes so many AI things.”
Naomi Osaka takes the joke seriously
A reporter asked Naomi Osaka, famously an LA Lakers basketball fan, “What’s wrong with the Lakers?” The tennis champ pondered, “What’s wrong with the Lakers? I don’t know. I’m not the GM.” She laughed saying, “Oh, God,” before it was clarified the question was meant mostly as a joke between fans. The LA resident had taken it seriously, “Okay. I’m, like, thinking about it.”
Aryna Sabalenka can’t stop laughing
After her semifinal victory over Linda Noskova, Aryna Sabalenka entered the room laughing and whispering to her team. She sat down at the microphone, tried to compose herself, but immediately started laughing when she looked at her team, leaving the room of reporters befuddled. After a lot of attempts to be serious, she finally spilled the beans about what all the giggles were about.
The world No. 1 had made a bet with her team that she could do an entire press conference responding only in one word answers. A verbose woman, the finalist didn’t even make it through the first question before cracking up and having to apologize: “Well, the idea was to give one-word answer, but I just gave up. Sorry. Now I’m serious.”
Mirra Andreeva leaves the press stunned silent
Mirra Andreeva left the court cursing out the audience after her shocking early exit. What might have shocked the press most in all this was her response to Women’s Tennis Blog’s question about her role models. After the 18-year-old apologized, I asked if there were players she wanted to model herself after in terms of temperament and handling defeat. She gave an answer none of the older tennis fans in the room expected: “I think the one person that was handling losses very well was Serena Williams, like I’ve never heard or seen her upset, I even remember she was losing finals on the Slams, and she would always smile and be happy for her opponent that she won the match and she got the trophy.” Older WTA fans definitely remember a few moments when the legendary player was upset.
