Coco Gauff fans wanted to ‘strip her of everything’ after Citi Open career milestone

Coco Gauff revealed that fans in Washington wanted to ‘strip her’ of all of her possessions after winning the biggest title of her career. The American teenager downed Maria Sakkari to reach a new milestone – her first WTA 500 trophy. And after the victory, she was forced to turn down requests from spectators who wanted her jewellery and shoes. Gauff picked up her second title of the season and her fourth overall on Sunday as she was crowned the champion of the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The world No 7 beat last year’s champion Liudmila Samsonova and Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic in emphatic fashion en route to the final. There, she needed just 84 minutes to defeat Sakkari and lift the trophy, and she took the time to say thanks to her many fans after the win – stopping for virtually every autograph. Asked about her kind gesture after the match, the 19-year-old admitted that some supporters tried to strip her of everything while asking for some special gifts. ‘For me it’s really important, and I think about, you know, I don’t know how much the ticket prices cost or anything, but for people to pay money to see me and wait after the trophy ceremony in this heat, to ask for an autograph, I try to sign as many as I can,’ Gauff said of her decision to stop for everyone.