Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have been reunited ahead of Wimbledon, having recently met in the French Open final.
Gauff played Sabalenka in a practice match on Centre Court in London shortly ahead of the Wimbledon main draw getting underway.
The two WTA stars played out a thrilling French Open final earlier this month, in which Gauff defeated Sabalenka 6-7(5-7), 6-2, 6-4.
It represented a second Grand Slam title for the American, who won her first on home soil at the US Open in 2023.
Sabalenka said she was too emotional in the Roland Garros final, as well as saying Iga Swiatek would have beaten Gauff if that had been the final two.
What Coco Gauff told her team about Aryna Sabalenka’s French Open final comments
The American has now shared her verdict on the entire situation, having been asked in her opening Wimbledon press conference about her rival’s comments.
Gauff said: “Yeah, I mean, obviously, some people are critiquing what she said in the speech. I didn’t really care about any of that because I know how it feels, and I understood what she was trying to say.
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“It was a terrible condition day. I don’t think I was playing well either, so I understood where she was coming from with that.
“Obviously some of the stuff that was said in the presser, I think I was a bit more surprised about, but yeah, I’m not someone to hold a grudge and when people I was talking to in my circle about it, I was like, if she apologises, not even publicly, it was just more so privately, I will be fine and we’ll move on.
“And she did, and she did again when I saw her before her practice and, yeah, it’s just water under a bridge.
“I felt like before that we got along pretty well anyways before all that happened, so it wasn’t very hard to accept that apology.
“And, yeah, I understand things weren’t, I guess, translated as how she meant it to be, and she understood that, and I understood that’s not what she meant.”
Coco Gauff explains TikTok dance with Aryna Sabalenka before Wimbledon
As Gauff alluded to, Sabalenka also lamented the terrible playing conditions in their final, where wind was certainly a factor.
But the American has once again shown her maturity and class with her reaction, which is truly impressive at the age of just 21.
READ MORE: Aryna Sabalenka’s route to the Wimbledon final looks like an absolute nightmare
And she has more than forgiven her opponent for what she said, with the duo having danced together on social media alongside their Wimbledon practice session.
Sharing the dance on her Instagram, Sabalenka wrote: “TikTok dances always had a way of bringing people together.”
And Gauff discussed the video in her press conference, telling reporters: “I think the TikTok was more like, we would do a TikTok anyways, we have in the past at WTA Finals and things like that.
“But I think that was just more so just to kind of show people that we are on good terms and, you know, there’s a lot of things that have been said, and I’m not someone that supports hate and things like that.
“And so I thought it would be a good idea for that just so people can really see it and kind of move on, because I think we’re both tired of talking about it, to be honest.”
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