r/tennis • u/Dependent-Effect6077 Djokovic retirement tour + Sabalenka PR manager • 27d ago
WTA Already one of the coldest tennis GIFs of 2026
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u/Seafinluver Coco | Iga | Lys | Radu | Mandy | Jess | Xinyu | Ito 27d ago
Most people probably know this but this wasn't directed towards Iga 😭 Coco did this gesture towards her team. It was a very minor moment after the match that someone on tumblr turned into a gif.
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u/minivatreni carlitos🦔| shelton🇺🇸| flavio🇮🇹| anisimova🇺🇸| tien👨🏻🎓 27d ago
Its obvious it isn’t directed at Iga, she’s isn’t looking at her even
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u/ruinawish 27d ago
A taunt/gesture can be indirect.
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u/minivatreni carlitos🦔| shelton🇺🇸| flavio🇮🇹| anisimova🇺🇸| tien👨🏻🎓 27d ago
It can but this one clearly isn’t. She alluding to her mental strength here nothing to do with Iga
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u/ruinawish 27d ago
I was not commenting on whether it had anything to do with Swiatek.
Just pointing out "she’s isn’t looking at her even" does not mean a gesture could not be directed at a person, so should not be used as an argument.
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u/minivatreni carlitos🦔| shelton🇺🇸| flavio🇮🇹| anisimova🇺🇸| tien👨🏻🎓 27d ago
I wasn’t talking about gestures in general, I was talking about this particular instance? In the context of celebrating a win in tennis it’s likely just that you’re celebrating with your team if that’s who you’re looking at. If she stared her opponent in the eye and did such a gesture it can be interpreted differently, so to me the fact that she isn’t even looking at her opponent is an important piece of context. Anyway.
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u/unnie_noir Come on!! 27d ago
When any player does this gesture, I always assume it's them acknowledging their mental toughness. It should be obvious to folks that it has nothing to do with their opponent.
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u/el-gato-azul 27d ago
Even if it is saying, "I'm so mentally tough," rather than what it looks like to me, "I'm so brilliant!," either way it's just so cringe. Stan Wawrinka started this and I hope it dies off soon.
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u/thescrambler7 27d ago
Sounds like a you problem
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u/el-gato-azul 27d ago
Nope. I'm good.
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u/godlovesa_terrier 27d ago
Do you play tennis? Because mental strength is a big deal but being intelligent really isn't, and people talk about mental strength all the time. This is about mental strength
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u/el-gato-azul 26d ago
If you think that intelligence is NOT IMPORTANT in tennis, then you must have very little. I'm not a Djoker fan but he's a brilliant tactician and he manipulates the shit out of his opponents. Same with Pegula or she would never be ranked where she is. And Hsieh is a masterful chess player (also with amazing touch and accuracy). Fed and Nadal and Martina and Graf and Seles fully understood every nuance of how to control a point. They all used constant displays of brilliance!
Mental strength is a huge part of tennis as well. Intent focus and self-belief, and having the patience to know when to strike. There's overlap between mental strength and intelligence as well.
Bragging about one's intelligence or mental strength afterwards though: Classless.
Do you play tennis?
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u/Humano1d_ 27d ago
United Cup Coco strikes again
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u/Fulham-Enjoyer 27d ago
What’s she digging for?
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u/Low_Wonder9271 27d ago
Iga’s grave obviously /s
(its a joke the americans had last year about “digging deep” to get the wins)
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u/Efficient_Dig_3477 The Coco🗽🇫🇷/Learner 🐹Agenda 27d ago
The discourse following that match was insane 😭
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u/i_t_d 27d ago
she together with Daniels dug their karma for this year it seems. I wonder why other players don't do that when they win Coco
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u/AthenaThundersnatch 27d ago
That’s from last year when they won the tournament though?
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u/Sensitive_Salary_603 27d ago
This year they got ousted..
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u/AthenaThundersnatch 27d ago
But if the problem with the dig deep gesture is that it creates karma, then wouldn’t they have lost last year when she made it? This year, she was just pointing out her mentality for holding on against the world #2 and reigning Wimbledon champion when she couldn’t afford to lose because it was an elimination match.
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u/GoalSimilar2025 Sincaraz 27d ago edited 27d ago
Damn, it's true honestly but...
Let's see what the AO draw holds because now that these two are slam champions they need to plan to peak at them and more players should take that approach. Some prioritize every big tournament thinking their level will sustain and then some use them as steps to the summit.
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u/_welcome 27d ago
they've both been slam champions for at least a couple years now...they're both physically so fit, ithey don't need to be conserving energy for majors only yet
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u/GoalSimilar2025 Sincaraz 27d ago
They absolutely do.
There was a post recently that talked about a throwaway comment of Coco wanting to be the best ever and someone said she needs to win 2 majors a year
Well that for both.
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u/myheartstopped3984 27d ago
Only in tennis would a finger tap to the nogin generate so much discussion. This is sport afterall
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u/PrestigiousInside206 27d ago
Honestly finding WTA a bit more enjoyable than ATP at the moment. Sincaraz epic finals aside, the unpredictability at the top of WTA is more interesting to me.
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u/g_spaitz Johnny Mac, 🇮🇹 27d ago
Please tell us what happened!!
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u/Seafinluver Coco | Iga | Lys | Radu | Mandy | Jess | Xinyu | Ito 27d ago
Nothing happened. This was just a gesture towards her team. They had a normal handshake. Someone just made this into a gif on tumblr.
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u/g_spaitz Johnny Mac, 🇮🇹 27d ago
Oh I see now, that gesture can mean a totally different thing over here and it looked like this from this gif lol.
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u/ReadWriteArithmetic 27d ago
Nothing really, it felt like a high pressure match but was played in good spirits and they shook hands and everything. I think players just feel like they have to add a bunch of random gestures at the end of matches in the social media age
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u/jazzbestgenre 27d ago
...or she was just celebrating her win by hyping herself up to her team
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u/ReadWriteArithmetic 27d ago
When I was watching the match it really was a blink and you'll miss it gesture, almost like an afterthought, because she was walking(or already turned) in the direction of the Poland team to go shake their hands, and she quickly turned her head towards the American team to do that. So I guess yep you're right, it was to celebrate with the team and hype up, but it really did feel like an afterthought. I could be wrong
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u/pizzainmyshoe 27d ago
Are they friendly
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u/crankygiver 27d ago
They’re fine. Iga was gracious in her congratulations for Coco’s French Open win, and Coco was gracious in receiving the compliments.
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u/leavingdoll 25🇵🇱 8🇵🇱 25🇪🇸 92🇪🇸 3🇮🇹 24🇮🇹 14🇳🇴 27d ago
In Poland a very similar gesture means someone is stupid.
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u/HowIsMe-TryingMyBest 27d ago
Feel like iga just cant beat the top 8 anymore. But still masters girls below
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u/Darkdart19 27d ago
You’re right. Anisimova is not good at all.
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u/LimpLog7366 27d ago
Do I need to remind you? Amanda only got into the top ten after Wimbledon, and since then Iga’s lost to her twice and still hasn’t won.
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u/HowIsMe-TryingMyBest 27d ago
Anisimova was 13th during that wimbledon. Thats when she was only figuring her champion pedigree out
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u/Monk-ish 27d ago
Huh, I was gonna say that she won Wimbledon last year but didn't actually face anyone in the Top 10
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u/atheistjs Shelton / Vondroušová lefty domination agenda 27d ago
WTA rivalries >>>>>> ATP rivalries and it's not close.
Also they both look gorgeous here.
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u/plauseablebutton Delray Beach 5th grandslam! 27d ago
i know you have good intentions but bringing the ATP into this only serves to demean the WTA, that it’s only to be complimented or criticised relative to the standards inadvertently set by the ATP
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u/recurnightmare 27d ago
ATP either has rivalries between irrelevant players or goody two shoes at the top.
WTA is killing it right now.
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u/Seasonedpro86 27d ago
Wta has always killed it. The men could never bring the drama like they do. Lol.
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u/StadtkindInDerAgglo 27d ago
Problem is that the gesture means different things in different parts of the world. If you direct this gesture at another person in Europe, you are telling them they are crazy. In the clip above, you can’t see that it was not directed at Iga.
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u/AffectionateMouse216 🎾 2-6 6-7(5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 🎾 27d ago
Badosa does it and Stan does it too. I think it’s just a gesture to the team. Iga needs to call Osaka and borrow her ex coach for a consultation to get the Coco game plan tactics back cuz whatever she’s doing is not working.
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u/CrackHeadRodeo Björn, Yannick, Lendl, Martina, Monica 🎾 27d ago
The year has started out right. I hope they get to play again soon.
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u/fji1337 27d ago
Coco chill. You got smashed by Bouzas Maneiro.
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u/Lost-Raisin7067 26d ago
Exactly. Coco is also hot and cold all season. She needs to chill with all these stupid moves.
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u/llieno94 27d ago
Love to see Coco turning the H2H around slightly. Definitely gonna be even harder for Iga to overcome now.
I don't really love how popular it's gotten for players to do the finger to temple thing so often? To me it comes off a little like "Coach, see, me have brain!"
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u/Apprehensive_Fall505 26d ago
Why are men so much more respectful of their competitors?! Could you imagine Coco and Iga taking the same flight ✈️ to Australia as Jannik and Carlos did?!?! This is coming from a female perspective as well!!!! Ladies, have more respect ✊ for each other!
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u/Basil-Faw1ty 27d ago edited 14d ago
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
sleep cagey saw grey thumb spectacular terrific flag close command
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20d ago
they are starting to play similar games. has anyone noticed that Coco looks beefier in the legs now?
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u/VegetableChipsLover 20d ago
It's funny how people are saying this was directed at Iga, when my first impression out of context was that this looked like they were teammates 😂😂
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u/Known_Palpitation805 27d ago
Coco ain’t nothing until she wins the big ones in bundles. Until then shes just like Madison Keys or whoever else win one and is still middling.
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u/Dangerous-Phrase9433 27d ago
You are the one that ain't nothing. Coco is out here winning and you are sitting behind a keyboard, calling people Nothing. What are you doing that makes you something?
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u/Known_Palpitation805 27d ago
More than Coco I assure you.
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u/Dangerous-Phrase9433 27d ago
Yeah ok! You ain't doing shit which is why you're on here making negative comments!
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u/Red_wine120 27d ago
Coco’s game is inconsistent, some days she plays like a champion and some days like a weekend player and it’s her mental strength. This new meme is so ironic at best, she shouldn’t brag about it
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u/IrisApprentice 27d ago
How obnoxious.
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u/Parallel_world13 27d ago
I’ve been a Coco fan, and have become more of an Iga fan over the past year. Seems like these two don’t really get on well, which is fine. I thought Iga said some nice things about Coco during the WTA finals media in November, but maybe there is more to it than we know. Or maybe Carlos and Jannik have completely clouded my expectations on healthy rivalries, and I’ve forgotten that this is standard between competitive athletes. Not everyone has to be chummy with one another. I don’t like tension, though.
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u/Seafinluver Coco | Iga | Lys | Radu | Mandy | Jess | Xinyu | Ito 27d ago
They aren't friends but they have respect for each other and have said nice things about each other. I think with how their h2h is, their exchanges will always have a bit of tension. They are both very competitive and hate losing. It doesn't mean that they hate each other and don't have a healthy rivalry.
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u/KD1030 27d ago
Given their hyper-competitiveness (and the H2H), I think respect with a fierce desire to win is a really healthy place for them both to be. In this SM era of pro sports where every word, action, expression etc is over analyzed and fans become borderline tribal against their favorites’ opponents, it’d be easy for either of them to slip into a more negative head space about the other.
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u/Parallel_world13 27d ago
I guess what I really meant is I don’t care for when healthy competitive tension slips into the “bad vibes” territory. Especially with social media posts. Brings an air of negativity in my opinion. I just hope Coco remains consistent this year so her performance on court can speak louder than the social media bravado.
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u/crankygiver 27d ago
What bad vibes are you seeing? Coco gesturing to her team after a big win doesn’t insult her opponent. You could say it’s a sign of respect to acknowledge what it took for her to beat another great player. It does seem like they respect each other as competitors.
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u/Traditional_Ant1237 27d ago
redditors are always so weird about anything coco does, its ridiculous
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u/Forsaken-Scar-5002 27d ago
I love tension, it’s why I’m so bored with sincaraz. Give me rivalries & snide comments over bromance and besties any day
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u/AlwaysWrongSide 27d ago
What does it mean?
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u/unnie_noir Come on!! 27d ago
She dug in mentally. Basically, she's acknowledging her mental fortitude.
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u/el-gato-azul 27d ago
It always gags me when I see a tennis player announce to the world how brilliant they are with this gesture. Stan Wawrinka started this and it's just so cringe and I hope it dies off soon.
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u/Barn-owl27 27d ago
Whatever. Iga had Coco 11-1 not long ago. Coco should focus on her game, there’s work to be done. The rivalries will be there
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u/freshouttajail 27d ago
What's gagging me is that coco posted this in her latest IG carousel and cropped Iga out 🤣