Coco Gauff has defeated Nadia Natacha Podoroska of Argentina in the second round of the Miami Open 2024 and booked her spot for the third round. Amidst her stunning 6-1, 6-2 victory, Gauff found time to share her views and insights on another sport close to her heart. Joining former POTUS Barack Obama, Coco Gauff has now shared her picks for March Madness Bracket.
March Madness is an 85-year-old men’s and women’s single-elimination basketball championship. Also called NCAA (National College Athletic Association) Division 1 tournament, March Madness Bracket is played across the country where all the Division 1 college teams participate.
While the Miami Open has been marred by rain delays and postponements this season, several players are doing other stuff on the sidelines. Such as Jannik Sinner going to watch a soccer match in Fort Lauderdale. Similarly, Coco Gauff gave an interview for the Tennis Channel, America’s main tennis broadcaster, about her pick for March Madness.
“For the men’s… I’m gonna be honest, I have not been paying attention to men’s at all this year. I think I saw UConn go far on President Obama’s bracket. I’ll choose them because he kind of chose them,” said Gauff.
She was very closely following the women’s Division 1 basketball competition, and came out honest about her opinion on men’s competition.
“This is interesting… I think I’m gonna go with South Carolina,” said Coco Gauff.
South Carolina has registered a thumping win against Presbyterian in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament. They won by 91-39. President Obama went with a more detailed analysis of who will win this time and which team will reach what stage. He too has picked South Carolina and UConn (University of Connecticut) as the winners.
Coco Gauff’s challenges ahead in the Miami Open 2024
After a thumping win over Podoroska, who was a qualified candidate, Coco Gauff next faces Oceane Dodin. Ocean Dodin is a ‘Lucky Loser’ in the tournament, who too started her journey in the second round. She defeated Arantxa Rus 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance herself in the third round, where she will now play against Gauff. Gauff, world no. 3 player, is also the third-seeded player in the tournament.
The timings of her next match against Dodin aren’t out yet. But the match will take place on Sunday, if rains don’t play a spoilsport. The temperature in Miami remains moderate at 20-25 degrees Celsius. The wind speed is 23 km/h and humidity is 86%, but precipitation on Saturday remains at 100%, which means there is a heavy chance of rainfall. However, it significantly decreases on Sunday i.e. 24th March, at 5%. Therefore, it might just be possible to evade rain. The match will stream live on the Tennis Channel in the US and Sky Sports in the UK. Gauff is the predicted winner.
