Serena Williams has come out in support of her husband, Alexis Ohanian, after he defended Coco Gauff amid criticism following a controversial incident at the 2026 Australian Open. Williams also went a step further by making a bold offer to Gauff.
Gauff’s run in Melbourne came to a disappointing end on Tuesday, January 27, as she bowed out to Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. The American struggled to find her rhythm throughout the match and went down 1-6, 2-6.
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Unable to hide her frustration after the loss, she vented her emotions once she left the court. While walking through the tunnel at Rod Laver Arena, she briefly stopped and smashed her racket in frustration, with the moment caught on television.
Alexis Ohanian, who is active on X (formerly Twitter), took to the platform to back Coco Gauff, saying she did “nothing wrong.” He added that he appreciates seeing that kind of “raw” emotion in sport, noting that it’s what makes athletes human.
“NGL I love this energy and emotion from @CocoGauff— we love sports because it’s raw, because these athletes put their ALL into the battle and sometimes (like life) you don’t win. Media are gonna spin this private moment for a headline to get some clicks, but Coco did nothing wrong here,” the Reddit co-founder wrote.
Serena Williams later chimed in, saying there was nothing wrong with hating to lose and that Gauff’s reaction was completely understandable. She even jokingly offered to teach the 21-year-old some “Serena-style” racket smashing if she ever needed it.
“Well said @alexisohanian. Passion. Caring. Matters. Nothing wrong with hating to lose. Now Coco when you want I can show you how to demolish in one swipe… Serena style,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion wrote.
Iga Swiatek & Amanda Anisimova join Serena Williams & Alexis Ohanian in supporting Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff also found support from her peers, with Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova speaking up alongside Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian. Swiatek, in particular, did not hold back, saying that players are not “animals in a zoo” and deserve a degree of privacy as well.
“Are we tennis players? Or are we animals in the zoo? Where they are observed even when they’re pooping. Ok, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to have your own process and not always be observed,” the Pole told the press.
Anisimova also pointed out that the broadcast of such a private moment, without Gauff having any say in it, speaks volumes about how players’ privacy is treated. She added that this is exactly why she prefers to head straight to the locker room after matches, where there are no cameras.
“I think the fact that the video of Coco that was posted, it’s tough because she didn’t have a say in that. But I think this deep down into the tournament I knew I didn’t have much privacy, so I just went to the locker room. I knew I was able to just be there, so…” the American said in a press conference.
Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova suffered the same fate as Coco Gauff at the Australian Open, with both also exiting in the quarterfinals. Swiatek fell to Elena Rybakina, while Anisimova was knocked out by her compatriot Jessica Pegula.
Edited by Pritha Ghosh
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