Coco Gauff explains what she wrote on the Australian Open camera after her win over Belinda Bencic

Coco Gauff is on track for another fantastic Grand Slam finish as she clinched an Australian Open quarter-final spot.

Gauff was handed a challenging Australian Open draw, but the WTA number three has dropped just one set in her four matches so far.

That came against Belinda Bencic in round four, with a Gauff versus Swiatek final on the cards in Melbourne later this month.

First up, however, Gauff takes on Paula Badosa, with the Spaniard having also dropped only one set thus far.

The American third seed was forced to come from behind in her match against Bencic, after which she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ on the camera.

Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images

Coco Gauff explains RIP TikTok USA message at the Australian Open

That message comes as the video-sharing app went offline in the USA due to a ban, with Gauff then explaining her words in her post-match press conference.

“Yeah, it was funny, a couple of people didn’t know what I meant,” she said. “You can’t access it in the US anymore.

“My phone, I could not access it after my match. I honestly thought I would be able to get away with it because I was in Australia.

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“I guess it’s something with my number. I don’t know. I have to do some research. Hopefully it comes back. I don’t know.

“It’s really sad. I’ve been on the app since it was called Musically. Yeah, I love TikTok. It’s like an escape. I honestly do that before matches.

“I guess it will force me to read books more, so yeah, be more of a productive human probably. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Everything happens for a reason. I do have a feeling that it will somehow come back.”

Coco Gauff had to ‘say something about TikTok after latest Australian Open win

Gauff is looking formidable in 2025, with her success so far this season coming immediately after a WTA Finals win at the end of last season.

She lifted the trophy in Riyadh in November, before helping guide the USA to United Cup glory earlier this month.

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Gauff also needed to explain her shovel celebrations at the event, which were in reference to the ‘keep digging’ advice from her retiring teammate Denis Kudla.

And the 20-year-old has also now shared insight into her other camera messages, having been asked if she thinks about what to write ahead of time or if it is more spur of the moment.

“It’s like a mix of both,” she said. “For sure when I wrote about the LA fires, I knew I was going to write that, just to thank our firefighters, just spread awareness through the world to just think about not just US firefighters but everywhere around the world firefighters.

“Today I did think about the TikTok before the match. Yeah, I got to say something about TikTok. The two days where I wrote like the shovel and things like that, I didn’t think about it before.

“I always know an idea maybe of what I want to write, but I don’t know how I’m going to execute it. I do get stage fright where I suddenly forget how to write things. Yeah, I definitely almost forgot how to draw a heart today.

“The first day I definitely forgot what a shovel looked like. I got a lot of crap from my United Cup team about my shovel.”

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