Coco Gauff celebrated her Australian Open victory over Belinda Bencic with a nod to TikTok as the popular app was made unavailable for Americans back home.
Gauff wrote on a camera lens “RIP TikTok USA” with a broken heart after beating Bencic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Grand’s first event Slam of the season. Gauff had over 750,000 subscribers before the app was removed.
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Coco Gauff writes “RIP Tik Tok USA” after beating Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Sunday, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
“I couldn’t get to it after my match. Honestly, I thought I could get through it because I was in Australia,” she told reporters after the match, via ESPN. “I hope it comes back… It’s really sad. I’ve been using the app since it was called Musical.ly.
“I love TikTok. It’s like an escape. Honestly, I do it before games. I guess it will force me to read more books – to probably be a more productive human being. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
TikTok was officially made unavailable for US users on Saturday evening. Anyone with the app received a message saying: “Sorry, TikTok is not available at the moment.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the United States. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use TikTok at the moment.
Coco Gauff returns a shot from Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Sunday January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
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“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office. Stay tuned!”
On the eve of his inauguration, President-elect Trump wrote in a Truth Social article on Sunday that he would sign an executive order to extend the deadline for the ban to take effect.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok remain in the dark! I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the deadline before the law’s bans take effect, so we can reach a deal to protect our national security “, he wrote. . “The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped prevent TikTok from going dark before my order.
“Americans deserve to see our exciting inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations.”
A TikTok logo displayed on a phone in San Francisco, January 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Trump added that he wanted the United States to have “a 50% stake in a joint venture.”
