"Had me fooled, I even sent the tweet to my agent": Coco Gauff hilariously debunks false claim of Serena Williams inspiring her Australian Open outfit

Coco Gauff has hilariously confessed to being duped by a fabricated quote falsely attributed to her. In doing so, she has also cleared the air on whether her 2024 Australian Open outfit was inspired by Serena Williams.

With the Australian Open set to commence on Sunday, January 14, images of Gauff's outfit for the Melbourne Slam have been circulating on social media. The American is set to wear two ensembles from the New Balance x Australian Open collection. The first features a yellow top and skirt, outlined in navy, while the second reverses the colors - a navy top and skirt with yellow accents.

With the 19-year-old's kit generating considerable excitement on social media, one fan used the opportunity to playfully dupe tennis fans into believing that the outfit was inspired by Serena Williams.

The fan posted a picture of Williams in a kit with a similar color scheme and shared a quote falsely attributed to Gauff, expressing her desire to channel her "inner Serena" with the attire.

"With this kit, I definitely wanted to channel my inner Serena. She is an inspiration on and off the court so this one is for her… it even has the lil crop top she had," the fan posted on X.

Several users were fooled by the fan's post, and the fan eventually admitted their disbelief at so many people buying into the claim.

Coco Gauff commented on the fan's post too and hilariously revealed that she herself was "fooled" by the post. She added that she even passed it along to her agent, as she had no recollection of ever making such a statement.

The 19-year-old clarified that her Australian Open outfit wasn't inspired by Serena Williams. However, she did express her love for the 23-time Grand Slam champion and hailed her as a "fashion queen."

"You had me fooled. I even sent the tweet to my agent, and I was like "I don’t remember ever saying this?" nothing wrong with it ya’ll know I love Serena it wasn’t inspired by her kit. She is a fashion queen tho!! I just literally thought I was going crazy for two mins hahaha," Coco Gauff commented.

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"Coco Gauff talks about it all the time" - Jill Craybas on how 'idols' Venus and Serena Williams influenced the US Open champion

Coco Gauff

On a recent episode of the ATP Tennis Radio Podcast, Jill Craybas emphasized the profound impact that Coco Gauff's "idols" Venus and Serena Williams had on her.

She attributed the 19-year-old's expressive nature to the positive influence of the Williams sisters.

"I mean, Coco Gauff talks about it all the time, how much of idols they (Venus and Serena Williams) were to her, and look at her now, like she has been able to let herself shine and be open," Craybas said (at 24:33).

Craybas further said that, despite her young age, Gauff had embraced the role of inspiring the next generation, following in the footsteps of the Williams sisters.

"And she's so well spoken. Now she's at such a young age, having that impact on the younger generation that is coming up now, and she's still very young herself," she added.

Coco Gauff kicked off her 2024 season with a successful title defense at the ASB Classic, triumphing over Elina Svitolina in the final. She will be back in action at the Australian Open, where she will commence her quest for her second Grand Slam title.