French Open champion Coco Gauff proud to represent 'Americans that look like me'
Newly crowned French Open champion Coco Gauff, the first Black American to win the title in a decade, said on Saturday her victory in Paris was for people back home who looked like her and struggled amid ongoing political turmoil.
Gauff battled from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 6-4 for her first French Open crown and her second Grand Slam title after the 2023 U.S. Open.
She is the first Black American to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015.
"It means a lot (to win the title), and obviously there's a lot going on in our country right now with things — like, everything, yeah. I'm sure you guys know," she said, smiling but without elaborating further.
"But just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people."
There has been ongoing political turmoil in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump last year.
Trump's first few months in office have featured an unapologetic assault on diversity and inclusion efforts, unraveling decades-old policies to remedy historical injustices for marginalized groups in a matter of weeks.
In his second term, Trump revoked a landmark 1965 executive order mandating equal employment opportunities for all, slashed environmental actions to protect communities of color and ordered the gutting of an agency that helped fund minority and female-owned businesses.
The actions have alarmed advocates, who say they effectively erase decades of hard-fought progress on leveling the playing field for marginalized communities.
"I remember after the election and everything, it kind of felt (like) a down period a little bit, and my mom told me during Riyadh (in November 2024) 'just try to win the tournament, just to give something for people to smile for.'
"So that's what I was thinking about today when holding that (trophy).
"Then seeing the flags in the crowd means a lot. You know, some people may feel some type of way about being patriotic and things like that, but I'm definitely patriotic and proud to be American, and I'm proud to represent the Americans that look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support."
Trump has previously denied claims he has employed racist attacks and an agenda throughout his political career.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
U.S. and China officials agree on plan to ramp down trade tensions
The U.S. and China agreed to a preliminary plan to ease trade tensions, which could revive the flow of sensitive goods between the world's two largest economies. American and Chinese negotiators in London said both sides agreed on a framework on how to implement the consensus the two sides reached in the prior round of talks in Geneva. The U.S. and Chinese delegations will now take the proposal back to their respective leaders, according to China's chief trade negotiator Li Chenggang. While full details of the pact weren't immediately available, U.S. negotiators said they "absolutely expect' that issues around shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets would be resolved. "Once the presidents approve it, we will then seek to implement it,' U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters in London, after two days of discussions that spanned nearly 20 hours in a Georgian-era mansion near Buckingham Palace. U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer said there were no other meetings scheduled, but added that the American and Chinese sides talk frequently and are able to do so whenever they need. Rare earths The talks in London came at the urging of the Trump administration to cement a pledge the Chinese government made to ease shipments of rare earths made during last month's trade talks in Geneva, which culminated in a tariff truce. The disagreement over critical mineral exports reignited open economic conflict between the U.S. and China and raised the prospect their nascent deal could collapse, which would pose a fresh threat for the world economy. "We do absolutely expect that the topic of rare earth minerals and magnets with respect to the United States of America will be resolved in this framework implementation,' Lutnick said. China's Vice Commerce Minister Li Chenggang (second from left), and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao (second from right), arrive for trade talks at Lancaster House in London on Tuesday. | Bloomberg "Also, there were a number of measures the United States of America put on when those rare earths were not coming,' Lutnick added. "You should expect those to come off — sort of, as President Trump said, in a balanced way. When they approve the licenses, then you should expect that our export implementation will come down as well.' The Chinese Foreign Ministry and Ministry for Commerce didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Greer said the issue of fentanyl, which the Trump has administration cited as a rationale for imposing tariffs on China, is also a priority for the U.S. president. "We would expect to see progress from the Chinese on that issue in a major way.' Leverage The London meetings showcased the growing role of export controls in modern trade warfare, where access to rare minerals or tiny microchips can give one economy a big edge over a rival. China controls much of the world's supplies of raw materials used to make magnets and other inputs for advanced manufacturing like electric vehicles, lasers and mobile phones. That leverage came to bear over the past several weeks, as complaints from American companies about looming magnet shortages led U.S. President Donald Trump to request a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. From left: U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, and China's International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang in London on Tuesday. | United States Treasury / via REUTERS The U.S. accused Beijing of stalling on sales, although delays may have been due to long lead times in China's permitting system. European trade officials and carmakers have also sounded the alarm on disruption of supplies from China. In response, Washington moved last month to limit exports of chip design software, jet engine parts, chemicals and nuclear materials — restrictions the U.S. opened the door to lifting in London in exchange for relief on rare earths. Following the Xi-Trump call last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Lutnick and Greer were dispatched to the U.K. capital to break the deadlock with a Chinese delegation led by Vice Premier He Lifeng. Trust The U.S. and China are about a third of the way through a 90-day reprieve on the crippling tit-for-tat tariffs imposed on each other through April. The settlement announced in Geneva on May 12 brought those duties down considerably, though trade between the two largest economies remains disrupted. "We hope that the progress we made will be conducive to building trust,' China's Li said. China's exports to the U.S. fell 34% in May, according to Bloomberg News calculations, the most since Feb. 2020, when the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic shut down the Chinese economy. Josef Gregory Mahoney, a professor of international relations at Shanghai's East China Normal University, said the biggest casualty of the trade war has not been lost sales but trust and that China is very cautious, aiming to avoid being drawn into the Trump "circus.' "We've heard a lot about agreements on frameworks for talks. But the fundamental issue remains: chips vs. rare earths,' he said. "Everything else is a peacock dance.' Financial markets have largely recovered from a bout of volatility that struck as Trump first introduced his tariff policies in early April, with MSCI's all-country equity index ending Tuesday at a record high. Currency markets tell a slightly different story, with the U.S. dollar weaker against all its major counterparts. Initial market reaction to the announcement was minimal, with U.S. equity futures edging lower and the offshore yuan inching higher. The yen was little changed. "Markets will likely welcome the shift from confrontation to coordination,' said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets. "But the absence of further scheduled meetings signals that we're not out of the woods yet — it's now up to Trump and Xi to approve and enforce the deal.'
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Golden Dome is a glittering gamble — and a likely mistake
U.S. President Donald Trump has a dim view of nuclear weapons. 'We're all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive,' he said earlier this year. He worries about the threat they pose, however. Days after taking office, he issued an executive order (EO) that proclaimed a shift in U.S. missile defense (MD) policy and called for 'a next generation missile shield.' The 'Iron Dome for America' is now the 'Golden Dome.' This project shifts the U.S. focus on defending against the threat from rogue states to a policy that ultimately seeks to deter attacks from peer or near-peer adversaries, like China and Russia. Predictably, those governments issued scathing attacks on the proposal. They needn't worry. Solutions to the technological demands of such a system are decades away — if ever. More to the point, we've seen this story before. Golden Dome is a retread of former President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as Star Wars and it too succumbed to financial and physical reality. That doesn't mean that Golden War can't do extraordinary damage to strategic stability in the interim.
Japan Times
4 hours ago
- Japan Times
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'
World leaders on Monday called for strict rules to govern deep-sea mining and warned against racing to exploit the ocean floor in a thinly veiled rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump. Growing anxiety over Trump's unilateral push to fast-track deep-sea mining in international waters shot to the surface at the opening of the U.N. Ocean Conference in southern France. "I think it's madness to launch predatory economic action that will disrupt the deep seabed, disrupt biodiversity, destroy it and release irrecoverable carbon sinks — when we know nothing about it," said French President Emmanuel Macron. Imposing a moratorium on seabed mining was "an international necessity," said Macron. The number of countries opposed to seabed mining rose to 36 on Monday, according to a tally kept by the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, an umbrella group of nongovernmental organizations. Trump was not among the roughly 60 heads of state and government in the seaside town of Nice but his specter loomed large as leaders defended the global multilateralism he has spurned. Of particular concern is his move to sidestep the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and issue permits directly to companies wanting to extract nickel and other metals from waters beyond U.S. jurisdiction. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for "clear action" from the seabed authority to end a "predatory race" for deep-ocean minerals. "We now see the threat of unilateralism looming over the ocean. We cannot allow what happened to international trade to happen to the sea," he said. The deep sea, Greenland and Antarctica were "not for sale," Macron said in further remarks directed clearly at Trump's expansionist claims. The ISA, which has jurisdiction over the ocean floor outside national waters, is meeting in July to discuss a global mining code to regulate mining in the ocean depths. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he supported these negotiations and urged caution as countries navigate these "new waters on seabed mining." "The deep sea cannot become the wild west," he said, to applause from the plenary floor. Island nations also spoke out against seabed mining, which scientists warn could result in untold damage to ecosystems largely unexplored by humanity. "Here in Nice, we can feel that the looming threat of deep-sea mining, and the recent reckless behaviour of the industry is seen by many states as unacceptable," said Megan Randles from Greenpeace. Meanwhile, a flurry of last-minute signatures in Nice brought a treaty to protect 60% of the world's oceans outside national jurisdiction closer to law. Macron told reporters that 55 nations had ratified the high seas treaty, just five shy of the number required for its enactment. The president gave two thumbs up and a broad grin as he posed with the new signatories, and said the accord would come into force by Jan. 1, 2026. According to the U.N., 18 new ratifications took place on Monday, bringing the total to 50. Others could arrive in the coming days. "Today's surge of ratifications for the High Seas Treaty is a tidal wave of hope and a huge cause for celebration," Rebecca Hubbard, director of the High Seas Alliance, said. On Monday, the United Kingdom announced plans to extend a partial ban on bottom trawling in some of its protected marine areas, following a similar move by France at the weekend. Greece, Brazil and Spain took the opportunity Monday to announce the creation of new marine parks, following recent similar action from Samoa. And French Polynesia unveiled what will be the world's largest marine protected zone, said the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Just 8% of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30% coverage by 2030. Macron said he hoped that coverage would grow to 12% by the summit's close on Friday. Environment groups say that for marine parks to be considered truly protected they need to ban trawling and other harmful activities, and be properly funded. Wealthy nations face pressure in Nice to commit money to make that level of ocean conservation a reality. Small island states are leading the charge for money and political support to better combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks that hurt their economies. "We say to you, if you are serious about protecting the ocean, prove it," said President Surangel Whipps Jr of Palau, a low-lying Pacific nation.
