TikTok ban: Coco Gauff 'sad' about ban but vows to 'read more books' after Australian Open win
2025-01-19
Category: sports

Coco Gauff says she is "sad" TikTok is no longer usable in the United States - but it will help her "read more books instead".The American, 20, wrote "RIP TikTok USA" and drew a broken heart on a camera lens shortly after her win over Belinda Bencic in the Australian Open fourth round.The social media platform has gone offline for American users, hours before a new law banning the platform was due to come into effect.It has been banned in the US over concerns about its links to the Chinese government.Speaking after her 5-7 6-2 6-1 win over Switzerland's Bencic in Melbourne, third seed Gauff said: "Hopefully it comes back. It's really sad. I love TikTok.""It's like an escape. I honestly do that before matches."I guess it'll force me to read books more, be more of a productive human probably. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise."
Gauff, who will face Spanish 11th seed Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals, has more than 750,000 followers on TikTok.Because she was in Melbourne, she wondered if the ban would still apply."I honestly thought I'd be able to get away with it," added Gauff."I guess it's something to do with my number. I don't know. I have to do some research."US President-elect Donald Trump had said he would "most likely" give TikTok a 90-day reprieve from the ban after taking office on Monday.
Defending champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka, who has more than 500,000 followers on the platform, is also hoping the ban is lifted.The Belarusian, who beat Russia's Mirra Andreeva to reach the last eight, recreated one of her viral dance videos with fans on Rod Laver Arena after her first-round victory a week ago."This isn't something we can control and I hope they're going to figure it out because I love TikTok," she said.Sabalenka is set to face another Russian in Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the quarter-finals after the 27th seed beat Croatia's 18th seed Donna Vekic.