Coco Gauff offers unique way to resolve 'beef' with paintball game after fun day out with friends

Coco Gauff is making the most of her time off after her exit from the 2025 Dubai Tennis Championships by engaging in fun experiences with her friends. The 20-year-old recently enjoyed her time playing paintball and expressed interest in repeating the activity.

Gauff has returned home after a disappointing run during the Middle East swing, failing to make a bid for either WTA 1000 title. The American suffered an opening-round exit at the Qatar Open, losing 6-2, 7-5 to Marta Kostyuk. Similarly, the World No. 3's campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships ended in her tournament opener, as McCartney Kessler pulled off a shock 6-4, 7-5 upset.

However, Coco Gauff appears to have put the losses behind her with an outing to play paintball with her friends. The 20-year-old shared a peek of her experience on social media, humorously inviting anyone she had "beef" with to squash it on the paintball field.

"Paintball is fun lol. If we have beef let's squash it out here," she posted on her Instagram story.

Coco Gauff's Instagram stories

Apart from pickleball, Gauff has also spoken about her love for escape rooms, which she often enjoys with Ben Shelton and Christopher Eubanks. At this year's Australian Open, the World No. 3 also disclosed that she would likely celebrate her 21st birthday by doing an escape room and having a drink with her parents, since her birthday (March 13) would fall during the Indian Wells Open.

"I don't know. I'll be at Indian Wells. I'm not really like a huge party person, so I love escape rooms. I'll probably want to do an escape room. Yeah, I don't know, maybe have a drink with my parents. Probably not during the tournament. I mean, I was legal everywhere else except the US, so I don't think that much would change because I travel a lot," she said.

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Coco Gauff: "When I'm at home, there's never two weeks I'm practising where I'm not doing something with my friends in between"

Coco Gauff - Source: Getty

Coco Gauff making the time to play paintball with her friends is a part of her conscious decision to adopt a "more fun" approach to the sport. In a press conference at the 2024 Australian Open, the World No. 3 opened up about ensuring that she took a break to play mini-golf, watch movies, or go bowling with her friends between her intense training sessions.

"When I'm at home, there's never two weeks I'm practising where I'm not doing something with my friends in between. So it's like, 'Why would I do that in a tournament?' So, yeah, going mini-golfing, escape rooms, movies, all of that, bowling," she said.

"Mentally I think I've just changed the way I approach the game. Coming to it with a more fun approach, more so than a pressure type of thing," she added.

Coco Gauff will be back in action at the 2025 Indian Wells Open, scheduled to begin on March 5. The American will aim to go a step further after losing to Maria Sakkari in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 event last year.