Swiatek had spent 75 consecutive weeks at No 1, but dropped to No 2 following her fourth-round exit from the season-ending Grand Slam last week.Former world No 1 and 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer also heaped praise on rising star Gauff, who is part of the Swiss great’s TEAM8 management team
In a message on Instagram and X/Twitter, the tennis great wrote: “Inspirational win @CocoGauff , Been watching your and following you for years. It’s great to see so much hard work and passion being rewarded. You shine brighter than ever #TEAM8”.His reference to Gauff shining “brighter than ever” was no doubt related to her post-match message to the “haters” who felt she didn’t have it in her to win a Grand Slam.
“I want to say, honestly, thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” she said.“A month ago, I won a 500 title and people said, I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a 1000 title and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get.
“So three weeks later, I’m here with this trophy right now. I’ve tried my best to carry this with grace and I’ve been doing my best. So to those who thought they were putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it. And now I’m really burning so bright right now.”
