'I preach love' - Coco Gauff thought of her family and clutched a toy strawberry instead of attacking Aryna Sabalenka

‘I preach love’ – Coco Gauff thought of her family and clutched a toy strawberry instead of attacking Aryna Sabalenka

Coco Gauff carried a stuffed-toy strawberry onto a stage bearing Wimbledon's famous logo.

Then the reigning French Open women's champion made a public announcement.

5 Coco Gauff has a new outlook after winning the French Open Credit: Getty

"I'm going to name it Strawb," a smiling Gauff said on Saturday.

"I don't know if I like that name, so I'm going to rename it later on."

An even more important announcement followed.

The Wimbledon No. 2-seed stared at a multitude of options after world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka followed a French Open final defeat with pointed comments that quickly went viral.

“It felt like she (Gauff) was hitting the ball off the frame, and somehow magically it lands in the court,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t think she won the match because she played incredible, just because I made all those mistakes.”

Two weeks later, Gauff calmly spent her pre-Wimbledon press conference reminding the world that there's a different -- and often better -- way to respond to viral chatter.

"I'm someone, I preach love, I preach light," Gauff said.

"I feel like I just practice what I preach. If someone were to say something, I feel like most of the time I'm always going to try my best to take the high road.

"I can't promise in the future I won't. But I try to, just because that's what I would want someone to look up to. If I'm thinking about my brothers watching me, that's what I would want them to do.

5 'Strawb' stayed close to Gauff during her opening interview Credit: x@tennis

5 Aryna Sabalenka and Gauff united before Wimbledon began Credit: x@TheTennisLetter

5 They even showed off new dance moves together Credit: x@Wimbledon

"There's obviously temptation -- I wouldn't be lying. But I don't know, I just want us to be kumbaya, live happily, hakuna matata, and be happy here."

Sabalenka later apologized for her comments after a tough Roland Garros loss, which saw the Belarusian star commit 70 unforced errors and fall after winning the first set.

On Friday, new viral videos appeared of Gauff and Sabalenka unleashing a TikTok dance with clapping hands and synchronized moves.

"That's how you squash a controversy," one fan tweeted.

"I love it!" a second fan posted. "They're bringing in a new generation of tennis fans. Good for them."

But it was the honesty from Gauff before Wimbledon began that cut through the remaining noise.

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She acknowledged the temptation of publicly firing back even harder than Sabalenka initially attacked.

"The apology did come a little bit later," Gauff said. "I thought it was going to come pretty quick."

But the 21-year-old American star understood that some of Sabalenka's intended message had been blurred, while fueling more 'hate' was the last thing that Gauff wanted in 2025.

"I'm not someone to hold a grudge," Gauff said.

"I was talking to my circle about it. I was like, 'If she apologizes -- not even publicly, it was just more so privately -- I will be fine, and we'll move on.' She did, and she did again when I saw her before we practiced.

"It was just water under a bridge. I know Aryna. I felt like before that, we got along pretty well anyways, before all that happened. It wasn't very hard to accept that apology.

5 The duo engaged in a practice session before the first round Credit: Getty

"I understand things weren't, I guess, translated as how she meant it to be. She understood that. I understood that's not what she meant."

Gauff has already won the US Open and French Open, and she's earned more than $5 million in prize money before turning 22.

She grew up admiring Serena and Venus Williams, and has never been afraid to show pure emotion on the court.

With her Roland Garros title now part of history and Wimbledon 2025 looming, Gauff sounded decades wiser than her age.

She could have turned a few post-defeat words into a bitter rivalry fueled by social media hate.

Gauff responded with a TikTok dance, and answered question after question on Saturday while clutching a stuffed-toy strawberry.

"I'm not someone that supports hate and things like that," Gauff said.

"So I thought it would be a good idea for that (video), just so people

can really see it and kind of move on, because I think we're both tired of talking about it, to be honest."

Gauff will face Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska in the first round.

Sabalenka initially plays Canada's Carson Branstine, who qualified for Wimbledon as the world's No. 197-ranked player.

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