American teen sensation Coco Gauff has appealed to put an end to gun violence in the United States after she defeated Italian Martina Trevisan to reach the French Open final on Thursday.
The 18-year-old registered a stunning straight-set win against Italy's Martina Trevisan 6-3 6-1 in the semi-final at Roland Garros.
On Court Philippe-Chatrier, the winner is invited to write a message on the camera before leaving the court and Gauff chose to write, 'Peace. End gun violence Coco' is followed by a heart.
The United States has experienced a number of mass shootings over the past few weeks.
"Yes it's a Grand Slam final but there are so many things going on right now - especially in the US right now a lot of things are going on - I think it's not important to stress over a tennis match," Gauff said in an on-court interview.
While she's been competing on the sport's biggest stages, Gauff has certainly not been unmoved.
"Since I was younger... my dad told me I could change the world with my racquet. He didn't mean that by just playing tennis. He meant speaking out on issues like this," Gauff said.
"The first thing my dad said to me after I got off the court [was] I'm proud of you and I love what you wrote on the camera," she added.
The 18-year-old, who was already in Grand Slam with her first final spot, will next face Polish top seed Iga Swiatek, who cruised into Saturday's final with a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Russian Daria Kasatkina to extend her winning run to 34 matches.
( With inputs from ANI )
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