Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert apologises after unfortunate social media gaff

Kevin Palmer
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Brad Gilbert has been creating some contentious headlines during this year’s US Open and now he has made a social media gaff that needed a quick apology.

Gilbert’s constant coaching for US Open semi-finalist Coco Gauff has been picked up by courtside microphones, with some critics suggesting his stream of comments are confusing the American teenager.

Yet it was a comment about Novak Djokovic’s match that forced Gilbert into a hasty retreat on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Djokovic was in a joyous mood after his quarter-final win against Taylor Fritz and grabbed the microphone to lead the big crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium into a rendition of the Beastie Boys’ iconic anthem, Fight for Your Right.

Luckily for Djokovic, he got plenty of people in the crowd joining him in his karaoke effort, as the moment added to his perfect afternoon in the New York heat.

Gilbert, who is one of Andy Murray’s former coaches, is a prolific tweeter and he was quick to make a comment on Djokovic’s crooning moment.

Unfortunately, he tagged in the wrong account when he wanted to link to the Beastie Boys and instead, he directed his 165k following to an adult entertainment site.

That message was quickly deleted when Gilbert was informed of his mistake and he posted this message by way of an apology: “i will give myself a straight red card and 24 hr suspension for honest mistake on wrong 😑 tag.”

Gilbert’s day had started in better fashion as he helped Gauff make it through to the semi-finals of the US Open as she comprehensive win against Jelena Ostapenko.

Once again, Gilbert was chirping his advice to Gauff during the match, with the teenager telling her box to “just stop talking” during her previous match against Caroline Wozniacki.

When asked whether her coaching staff had annoyed her during the match, Gauff replied: “Sometimes I do tell them (coaching team) to chill a bit, because I like to think through matches my own way.

“My dad isn’t in the box anymore because he gets too nervous! He’s in a suite somewhere and doing laps around the stadium.”

After her win against Ostapenko, Gauff suggested she had already achieved one of her big goals at this year’s US Open.

“It feels great, I’m so happy,” she said. “Last year I lost in the quarter-finals and I wanted to do better. There’s a long way to go but I’m happy and ready to go back to work.

“Honestly, I didn’t feel comfortable the whole match, even on match point. I know the game she plays. It’s really tough against her – you can’t really be aggressive. She’s a top player and she’s had a great tournament.

“There’s a saying in basketball that ‘defence wins games’. It doesn’t always work in tennis but today that was the case.”

Gauff knows she still has a long way to go if she is to come even close to the achievements of Williams, who won six US Opens among her 23 Grand Slam titles.

She added: “Being in any sentence with her is great. I mean, she’s the greatest player of all time. You know, I’m nothing close to that yet. I’m just really honoured to be in the same sentence as her.

“It’s something that I’m used to a lot. I feel like a lot of the stats have aligned with her and people find new things to think about.

“I was the first teenager in the quarters and now semis, so I’m guessing if I win, they’re going to be, like, finals. It’s just going to keep going.

“I never take it for granted. She’s my idol. I think if you told me when I was younger that I would be in these same stat lines as her, I would freak out.

“I’m still trying not to think about it a lot, because I don’t want to get my head big or add pressure, but it is a cool moment to have that stat alongside her.”

READ MORE: Jelena Ostapenko slams ‘crazy’ US Open scheduling following Coco Gauff loss

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