Coco Gauff pens 3-word message to TikTok to make her feelings known after reaching Australian Open QF

Coco Gauff penned a TikTok-themed message after her stellar comeback win against Belinda Bencic at the ongoing 2025 Australian Open. Gauff's message came in light of TikTok going dark in the US ahead of an imminent ban on the short-form video and social network platform in the country.

Gauff, the overwhelming favorite on paper against Bencic, surprisingly lost the first set 5-7 to the Swiss. However, the 2023 US Open champion came into her own across the next two sets, comprehensively winning them 6-2, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the second time in her career.

After completing her post-match, on-court interview, a smiling Coco Gauff wrote the following three-word message on the courtside camera:

"RIP TikTok USA" (followed by a broken heart emoji)

On Saturday, January 18, TikTok suspended its services in the US, hours before a federal ban on the platform came into effect. The Chinese-owned app is no longer available for download on Google's Play Store and Apple's iOS App Store in the US.

The ban stemmed from TikTok's parent company's refusal to sell the platform to a non-Chinese owner. The US Supreme Court had laid down this condition for the app to continue operating in the country.

At an earlier 2025 Australian Open press conference, Gauff had spoken up about how the TikTok ban would impact her. The World No. 3 used to be quite active on the app, sharing a variety of short-form videos with her followers.

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"People are going to be fine" - Coco Gauff on TikTok ban in US

Coco Gauff (Source: Getty)

Coco Gauff didn't seem too bothered about the TikTok ban when asked about it at a press conference a few days ago. The World No. 3 opined that there are alternative platforms for people in the US to migrate to.

"I feel like this is the third or fourth time this has happened, so I've kind of like, this time just was like, 'Whatever.' If I wake up and it doesn't work, fine. I'm done wasting my time figuring it out. I see that there's a new app called 'Red Note' that a lot of people are migrating over to. So I feel like regardless people are going to be fine because people are always going to migrate to another app," Gauff said.

Gauff is set to face No. 11 seed Paula Badosa in the 2025 Australian Open quarterfinals. Badosa reached the quarterfinals after a straight-set fourth-round win over Olga Danilovic.