Simone Biles sings praises for inspired Coco Gauff as they cross paths at the US Open

Amid all the pressure, it was a special evening for Simone Biles and Coco Gauff.

The seven-time Olympic gymnastics champion cheered on the USA tennis star at the 2025 US Open, as an emotional Gauff came through to beat another Olympic medallist in Donna Vekić on Thursday (28 August).

Both women were in awe of each other, and in a 99-minute second-round battle for the 2023 US Open champion, Biles was her number one fan in New York City.

“Obviously Coco Gauff,” Biles told ESPN of why she was back to watch more tennis on Arthur Ashe Stadium, “She’s incredible, amazing and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it’s just such a privilege to watch her on home soil and watch black girl magic. [I admire] her grace and humility. She is amazing on and off the court and I think that says a lot about who she is as a person, so it’s a privilege to watch that in person.”

Though Gauff did not hear those words in the moment, she saw it during the set changeover after winning a tiebreak. It had a huge impact for the 21-year-old, who had burst into tears when broken for the third time in five service games in the first set.

After winning 7-6(5), 6-2, Gauff said of Biles through more tears in her on-court interview, “Honestly I saw her, and I don’t know if she’s up there, but she helped me pull it out. I was just thinking, ‘If she can go on a 6-inch beam and do that with all the pressure of the world, then I can hit the ball in this court’.

“It brought me a little bit of calm just knowing her story knowing all the things she went through mentally, so she's an inspiration and her presence definitely did help me today."

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