Coco Gauff doesn’t object to the influencers flocking to the US Open — she just wants them to abide by tennis etiquette.
“I think it’s great to have a different demographic to the sport,” Gauff, 22, told reporters after her second round win on Thursday, September 3. “I have no problem with influencers. I’ve met some of them and follow some of them online. Luckily the ones I do follow online do follow the etiquette and know tennis pretty well.”
Gauff’s comments come as influencer etiquette has become a hot-button topic during the annual tournament, with nearly 100 credentials given to content creators for 2026, about double last year’s total. During the US Open’s first few days, two have been ejected for posting their credentials via social media, a portable ring light has disrupted play and crowd noise complaints have skyrocketed.
The problem for some, Gauff suggested, might be tennis education.
“It may be on some of the brands too, maybe to have a sign plastered in the suite so that they know,” she said. “Sometimes it’s their first tennis match. They’ve probably been to basketball games before.”
Gauff added that while she can tolerate the noise, flash photography has been distracting during points.
“[Arthur Ashe Stadium] is a very loud court so I’m used to it,” she said of the noise, “but definitely not like, mouthing TikToks and stuff in the middle of a point. It’s not just for us, the players, but the viewing experience for those around.”
While some might argue that professional athletes should be able to handle distractions, Gauff said it’s on the guests to match the etiquette of their surroundings.
“If you’re being invited to a red carpet, you wouldn’t show up in jeans,” she said. “So I think just follow the etiquette of the sport. That’s all.”
Gauff isn’t the only player who has weighed in on the issue. The ring light incident disrupted Naomi Osaka’s match on Monday, September 2, and she admitted the influencers were a distraction.
“Today, the umpire, she told everyone to be quiet more than I’ve ever heard an umpire tell a crowd to be quiet,” Osaka, 28, said in her press conference. “I do think in my first match, I wasn’t really paying attention. I tell people [that] I normally just focus on the match and the court, but there was a moment where there was people, like, shouting and stuff, and you could hear it quite clearly. And I think it bothered my opponent, too.”
The USTA itself has also commented, with spokesperson Brendan McIntyre saying the disruptive instances have been rare.
“We want our fans and guests to have an incredible time when they attend the US Open, but we also need to ensure that does not interfere with the action and competition on the court,” he said in a statement to the New York Post on Monday. “These instances happen infrequently, and similar to when crowd noise reaches a certain level, our chair umpires have the ability to address the crowd when they occur.”
