{"id":110801,"date":"2025-09-03T05:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T05:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/110801\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T05:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T05:39:09","slug":"us-open-pundit-breaks-down-in-tears-on-live-tv-and-feels-like-coco-gauff-tennis-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/110801\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open pundit breaks down in tears on live TV and ‘feels like Coco Gauff’ | Tennis | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert was moved to tears during a tribute marking the 50th anniversary of her maiden US Open triumph – and admitted she felt “like Coco Gauff<\/a>“. On Monday, Gauff – who broke down in tears during her second-round victory due to serving difficulties – was knocked out of the US Open by Naomi Osaka on Monday. The Japanese player proved superior, whilst the 2023 title-holder couldn’t stem the flow of unforced errors.<\/p>\n

Following Gauff’s departure, ESPN honoured Evert with an emotional video montage celebrating five decades since her 1975 US Open triumph. At that time, Evert claimed the title with a three-set victory over Australia’s Evonne Goolagong in Queens. The tribute featured heartfelt messages from tennis legends, including Billie Jean King and Patrick McEnroe, celebrating Evert’s achievements. Consequently, the 70-year-old became visibly emotional.<\/p>\n

“I feel like Coco Gauff<\/a> right now,” Evert remarked. “I’m sorry.” Evert’s comment alluded to Gauff’s tears during her second-round triumph against Donna Vekic. Gauff disclosed she experienced a panic attack mid-match, with emotions overflowing as she struggled with her serve – a component of her game causing recent difficulties.<\/p>\n

Gauff is currently rebuilding her service technique. Therefore, the 21-year-old has been unable to rediscover her peak performance levels, with her Grand Slam campaign concluding against Osaka.<\/p>\n

However, beyond Evert’s quip, the occasion proved deeply moving. Evert received heartfelt serenades from countless tennis legends who each celebrated both her prowess on court and her character off it.<\/p>\n

“She’s one of my favourite all the human beings,” King declared of Evert in the video tribute. Martina Navratilova remarked: “There was something extremely relatable.<\/p>\n

“She brought new fans to the game and made little girls and boys think, ‘Oh, I think I can do this. I can follow in those footsteps.”<\/p>\n

Evert is married to Jimmy Connors, a former world No. 1 and eight-time Grand Slam champion who was a great rival of John McEnroe.<\/p>\n

The ESPN commentator spotted his chance to inject some humour into proceedings. “The attention you brought to the sport, however, made me want to be a tennis player, and thankfully, I became one,” he told Evert. “And finally, like millions of other young boys I wanted to marry you, I admit it.<\/p>\n

“Then you got engaged to Jimmy Connors. I hated that. If I ever play that guy, going to beat his ass. Chrissie, I love you, congrats. Glad I can call you a friend.”<\/p>\n

Evert claimed six US Open titles alongside seven victories at Roland Garros, two Australian Open<\/a> crowns, and three Wimbledon<\/a> championships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert was moved to tears during a tribute marking the 50th anniversary of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[6563,7510,101,118,872,56,54,55,6545,7259],"class_list":["post-110801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-chris-evert","tag-coco-gauff","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-us-open","tag-us-open-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}