Coco Gauff calls for more 'respect' as she sportingly stands up for opponent Hailey Baptiste after heckler at Australian Open

Coco Gauff reached the fourth round of the Australian Open with a battling win over fellow American Hailey Baptiste, who was heckled by someone in the crowd during the third set. Gauff stood up for Baptiste following the match and called on fans to be more "respectful". The third seed, who faces 19th seed Karolina Muchova next, also spoke about "building confidence" in her serve.

Watch as Baptiste is harshly jeered by fans as Gauff reacts in defence of opponent

Video credit: TNT Sports

Coco Gauff called for fans to be more "respectful" after her opponent Hailey Baptiste was heckled during their third-round match at the Australian Open.

Third seed Gauff recovered from dropping the opening set to win 3-6 6-0 6-3 against her fellow American.

Baptiste was shown support early in the third set as someone in the crowd shouted "we believe in you, Hailey" as she prepared to serve - but the moment was soured as another person in the crowd responded with: "No one else does".

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The comment was met with boos from supporters, while Baptiste stopped her service motion and stared in the direction of the heckler.

Gauff made her feelings clear as she shook her head and gestured towards the person to cut it out. She then stood up for Baptiste in her on-court interview.

"Hailey's a great competitor, so to the guy who made that comment, we're all doing our best out here," she said in a sporting gesture.

Gauff calls for fans to be 'respectful' after tense three-set win over Baptiste

Video credit: TNT Sports

"A lot of people believe in her, so I understand you're trying to root for me, but let's be respectful. We're all trying our best."

Although this was only the second meeting between Gauff and Baptiste on tour, they grew up practising together at junior level.

They were also room-mates and Gauff has previously said "there weren't really too many Black women and juniors playing... and we had to deal with a lot of the crap".

They shared a warm embrace at the net after their closely fought match on Rod Laver Arena.

Coco Gauff - Hailey Baptiste - Australian Open highlights

Video credit: TNT Sports

"If you told us at that age that we’d be playing each other, especially because we didn’t really play against each other in juniors… the fact that we played each other also on the biggest stage, I feel the most happy for our parents," said Gauff.

"Both her parents and my parents are pretty involved in our tennis and have been involved throughout our whole lives. So I think it's especially cool for me, with seeing her dad in her box.

"My dad doesn't sit in the box, but he's here. Just knowing the stuff they had to do to help us get to this level."

Gauff is bidding to win her third career Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Her serve has been a regular topic of discussion in recent years and against Baptiste she hit four double faults in the first set and was broken twice.

But she improved as the match went on and said she is trying to "build confidence" in her action.

"I think at this point I have the right motion. I feel like I'm working on the right things. Now it's just trying to, I guess, erase old demons and actually do it," she explained.

"There were moments today I was definitely nervous, and I felt like I'm getting better with each match dealing with that on those pressure moments.

"Throughout the season, I would like to just be more consistent, not have so many ups and downs. I think that would go with really my serve. I think I always correlated the two.

"Hopefully, as I continue to get better with that stroke, I think the results will be more consistent because I actually will not be giving away like 20 points in a match from double faulting."

Gauff will face 19th seed Karolina Muchova in the next round.

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