TENNIS ACE Cori “Coco” Gauff, who bounced back on the resumed WTA Tour with a win, has hit back at a sexist comment on social media.

The world no.53 is one of the star names at the inaugural event in Lexington, Kentucky, and dismissed fellow American Caroline Dolehide 7-5 7-5 in her opening match on August 11.

Teenage sensation Gauff, who shot to fame by stunning Venus Williams at the opening round at 2019 Wimbledon Championships and followed her success up by capturing her first WTA title aged just 15, was equally dismissive off the court.

Comment

Gauff hit back at a comment that appeared on the popular platform of TikTok, which claimed the ace wouldn’t be able to beat a male tennis player because she’s a girl. The controversial comment read: “Bro what do you not understand she plays GIRLS tennis, he plays BOYS tennis, the skill gap is immeasurable. A pro girl wouldn’t even win boys states.”

But the 16-year-old was as quick as her on-court footwork to serve up a response: “If you think that you’re better than me because of the sole fact that you’re a boy and I’m a girl, that doesn’t make any sense.

“If you could say you could beat me because you think your skill level is better than mine, I respect that, we could go out there and we’ll compete and we’ll see who’s better.”

Registered

Veterans Serena and Venus Williams set up a second round showdown at the Top Seed Open after each registered victory in their respective first WTA matches since the circuit closed down in March. The tour only resumed on the Italian island of Sicily last week, when an unnamed player tested positive for coronavirus.

The tournament in the US state of Kentucky is being played on hard courts bearing the Black Lives Matter’ slogan, which marks the death in police custody of George Floyd that sparked worldwide protests calling for racial justice.

Serena, whose last competitive action was in February’ Fed Cup tie against Latvia, looked rusty as she surrendered the first set to compatriot Bernarda Pera. But she moved into top gear after scooping the ninth game in the second set, having trailed 40-0, and recorded a hard-fought 4-6 6-4 6-1 success in 135 minutes.

Encounter

In stark contrast her sister Venus looked razor sharp on court, demoilishing Belarus’ former world no.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-2, and will be favourite to topple Serena in their encounter.

American Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, produced an out-of-sorts display to fall tamely to Canada’s rising star 17-year-old Leylah Fernandez 6-3 6-3.

The WTA Tour moves to New York soon for the Western & Southern Open tournament, which was moved from Cincinnati because of the coronavirus outbreak. It will serve as a Grand Slam warm-up event before the US Open, which has a depleted line-up with many of the world’s top 20 players absent.

Serena, the six-time US Open singles champion, has had the Flushing Meadows surface shipped to her Florida home for practice. The 38-year-old is only one triumph away from equalling Margaret Court’s seemingly elusive record of 24 Grand Slam singles crowns, having lost her past four Slam finals.