The US Tennis Association probably thought it was being cute when it posted an image of Coco Gauff and other tennis stars in the animation style of The Wild Thornberrys, but Gauff most definitely did not find it cute. As USA Today explains, the decades-old cartoon series was about a family that traveled the world, including Australia, and USTA posted the image to promote the Australian Open. "Worst thing I've ever seen," Gauff said in an Instagram story Sunday. "Like a [caricature] artist decided to make [us] all look like hideous looking people. The art style is cool for a cartoon show but not for a hype post. Foul." The USTA post has since been deleted, but you can see a screenshot of it, as well as Gauff's reply, here.
"Y'all I know it is a cartoon show but I think I would prefer to be drawn as a Bratz art style and not this. This ... makes us all look so ugly," she later said on X, per ESPN. (Gauff later deleted her X posts on the topic.) The USTA post featured Americans who were seeded for the Australian Open, and in addition to Gauff, it included Jessica Pegula, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, and Emma Navarro. Pegula agreed with Gauff, posting on X, "Hahahahhaha we are ugly af." (More Coco Gauff stories.)