Coco Gauff makes her feelings known on Novak Djokovic's NBA & NFL-inspired suggestion for tennis

Coco Gauff has given her thoughts on Novak Djokovic's proposition of including a half-time break instead of the usual one-minute-long changeover between sets. Gauff doesn't fully agree with the Serb over the discourse but expressed appreciation for him voicing his opinion regardless.

Gauff has enjoyed a dominant campaign in Melbourne thus far, dropping only a set en route to the quarterfinals. Following her three-set fourth-round win against Belinda Bencic, the third seed was asked to express her views on an idea that was recently broached by Novak Djokovic following his third-round victory on Friday (Jan. 17).

During his post-match press conference, Djokovic said that tennis would attract more young fans provided it adopted the concept of "half-time" - the interval between two halves of the match that serves as an intermission for entertaining fans during NBA and NFL games.

"I want to see a little bit more entertainment," Novak Djokovic said on Friday (via Hindustan Times). "For example, why wouldn’t we consider doing something between the sets like the Super Bowl or, I don’t know, the NBA, right?"

Coco Gauff was slightly amused by the above recommendation as she felt that the changeovers between sets, while they could be longer, wouldn't be able to fit in a proper half-time performance that is seen during an event like Super Bowl per se. The 20-year-old also claimed that the proposition from the 24-time Major winner was an "interesting thought".

"I mean it's only a minute of changeover, so I don't really... it's a great suggestion if we had a real half-time like those sports do," Coco Gauff said during her press conference in Melbourne on Sunday (from 4:00 onwards). "The issue is that we have only a minute, which I honestly think that our changeovers here [in Melbourne] should be a little bit longer."

"I guess it depends on how long you want the show to go on. I don't think it'll be like NFL where it's actual 50-minute half-time, that would maybe be too long," she added. "I think the sport can be fun and there are things that could happen, but it would be tough with only a minute and a half to make something crazy happen... But that's definitely an interesting thought, I was not expecting that from Novak."

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Coco Gauff looking to reach the semifinals of Australian Open for the second time in her career

Coco Gauff celebrates after booking her QF spot at the 2025 Australian Open (Source: Getty)

Coco Gauff will next face 11th-seeded Paula Badosa for a place in the last four at the Australian Open. The American is tied 3-3 in her tour-level meetings with the Spaniard, having won the last two encounters of their rivalry in 2024.

The World No. 3 reached the semifinals in Melbourne last year, going out to eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. She will be eager to match her career-best result Down Under and possibly improve on it when she takes on Badosa in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday (Jan. 21).