Coco Gauff jokes about teaching 'important' model face lesson in amusing Indian Wells sketch alongside Novak Djokovic & Emma Navarro

Coco Gauff recently appeared in a hilarious skit at the ongoing BNP Paribas Open featuring Novak Djokovic, Emma Navarro, Aryna Sabalenka, and Tommy Paul, among other top ATP and WTA stars. The World No. 3 admittedly took great pride in teaching fans the ins and outs of nailing the "model face" during the sketch.

The premise of the skit, shot at various locations in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, was that tennis pros would tutor on-site fans about the intricacies of their sport. While Gauff & Co. took on the duties of walking them through what it takes to be a star, Djokovic designated himself to a desk position where he talked to a crew in a mockumentary setup.

The 20-year-old American was happy about her involvement in the spoof, going by her Instagram story later on Monday (March 10).

"Taught a very important lesson today," Coco Gauff wrote in her Instagram stories.

Via Coco Gauff's Instagram stories

During the spoof, Coco Gauff taught a select few fans how to do a "model face" for media interactions. The former US Open winner also talked to the crew later about mastering the "selfie game", insisting that she was a veteran of both of the above skills at this point of her career.

"Now smile. Wait, no, model face, here *motions to her face*. Yeah, now smile. Now, funny face," Coco Gauff said to the onlooking fans.

"The selfie game here at Indian Wells, it's pretty big, and it takes a long time to get on. I mean, I've been out here since I was 14," she told the skit's crew later.

The American then took selfies with a horde of fans nearby to show her students the ropes.

"So you approach them slowly. And we're gonna take a selfie. So you guys saw how it's done," she said. "They're gonna scream but you just ignore the screaming. Just focus on channeling your model face to smile, like we talked about."

Watch the interaction in the fifth slide of the following post:

Gauff, meanwhile, has enjoyed a good campaign at the BNP Paribas Open this fortnight. Having received a first-round bye, the third seed went to three sets against Japan's Moyuka Uchijima before downing 29th-seeded Maria Sakkari in straight sets in the third round of the WTA 1000 tournament.

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Coco Gauff to meet Belinda Bencic next at Indian Wells

Coco Gauff has been on-song at Indian Wells this year | Image Source: Getty

In four career appearances, Coco Gauff has gone past the Round of 16 at the Palm Springs event twice. The 20-year-old reached the semifinals and the quarterfinals in 2024 and 2023, respectively. She notably exacted her revenge on former World No. 3 Sakkari for defeating her in the semifinals last year and will next take on a resurgent Belinda Bencic in the fourth round.

Gauff leads Bencic by a margin of 2-1 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA tour, making her an outright favorite to win the fourth-round match. Provided the reigning WTA Finals champion does navigate past the former World No. 4's challenge, she will face either the Australian Open champion Madison Keys or 19th-seeded Donna Vekic for a place in the last four in Indian Wells.