Victoria Azarenka, Ons Jabeur & colleagues rally to Coco Gauff's defense after American confirms being denied chance to speak at Madrid Open

Coco Gauff has confirmed that she was not allowed to speak after the women's doubles final at the 2023 Madrid Open, and her statement has been met with unanimous support from the tennis world.

Gauff and Jessica Pegula were the top seeds at the WTA 1000 tournament but were beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia on Sunday. Unlike other tournaments, neither pair was given the chance to speak during the presentation ceremony.

Gauff wrote about this unusual decision from the tournament organizers on social media, where she also thanked Pegula and congratulated Azarenka and Haddad Maia.

"Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:( But thank you to the fans for supporting us and women’s tennis this week! Thanks @JLPegula for always keeping it fun on the court and hitting unreal clutch shots hahahaha Lastly, big congratulations Vika and Bia," Coco Gauff tweeted.

"Also thanks to my team and Jess’s team of course! Also for the ball kids, tournament staff, and everyone else who works hard behind the scenes. Twitter format doesn’t allow me to say everything I would’ve said during the speech if we had one. But just wanted to say I ‘m thankful," she added.

Many players immediately came out in support of Gauff and criticized the Madrid Open for not allowing the women's doubles finalists to speak. The teenager's partner Jessica Pegula sent a bunch of emojis, indicating her annoyance regarding the matter.

Victoria Azarenka sent Gauff a heart emoji while Ons Jabeur lamented that the players not being allowed to address the crowd was sad and unacceptable.

"So unfortunate that you were not given a chance to address the crowd and your opponents. This is sad and unacceptable," Jabeur's tweet read.

Ellen Perez criticized Madrid Open director Feliciano Lopez, claiming that the Spaniard was "putting the cherry" on Aryna Sabalenka's birthday cake. That was a reference to an earlier controversy where the Belarusian was given a smaller cake in comparison to Carlos Alcaraz's on their respective birthdays.

"No chance for a speech…. Damn I guess Feliciano really did want to put that cherry on the cake that he was missing on Aryna’s," Perez's tweet read.

Former doubles World No. 1 Rennae Stubbs also questioned the decision not to allow the women's doubles finalists to speak, tweeting:

"Wait, you didn’t have speeches for the women’s finalist!????? What??? Can someone explain this to me like I’m 5 and never been in this situation!!!??? @feliciano_lopez.

Greg Rusedski weighed in as well, saying:

"I have never seen this before after the Womens doubles final in Madrid. No interviewers from any players or post match interviews. What happened???"

Victoria Azarenka congratulates Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula on their run to the final of the Madrid Open

Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia with their winner's trophies after beating Ccoco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the final

Like Coco Gauff, Victoria Azarenka also took to Twitter to speak about the Madrid Open final. The Belarusian thanked her partner Beatriz Haddad Maia while also congratulating their opponents Gauff and Jessica Pegula on their run.

"I would like to say thank you to all the fans for coming out and supporting us! Thank you to Bia for an incredible week! Our first title together! Congrats to @JLPegula and @CocoGauff for the final and your teams," Azarenka tweeted.

"Thank you to all the people behind the scenes for working hard! I would like to say thank you to my team for your hard work and support! An unforgettable week," she added.

Victoria Azarenka, Haddad Maia, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are all scheduled to compete at the Italian Open in Rome next.