Coco Gauff celebrated her Australian Open victory over Belinda Bencic with a nod to TikTok since the popular app was not available to Americans at home.
Gauff wrote on a camera lens “RIP TikTok USA” with a broken heart after defeating Bencic, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the first Grand Slam event of the season Gauff had more than 750,000 followers before the app was cut.
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Coco Gauff writes “RIP Tik Tok USA” after defeating Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Sunday, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
“I couldn’t log in after my match. I honestly thought I could run away because I was in Australia,” he told reporters after the match, via ESPN. “Hopefully it comes back…. It’s really sad. I’ve been on the app since it was called Musical.ly.
“I love TikTok. It’s like an escape. I honestly do that before parties. I think it will force me to read more books – be more of a productive human, probably. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
TikTok has officially been unavailable for the United States late Saturday night users. Someone with the app was hit with a message that read: “Sorry, TikTok is not available right now.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, this means you can’t use TikTok for now.
Coco Gauff returns a shot from Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Sunday, January 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to restore TikTok once he takes office.
On the eve of its inauguration, President-elect Trump wrote on Sunday in a Social Truth post that he signed an executive order to extend the time for when the ban would take effect.
“I ask the companies not to let TikTok stay in the dark! On Monday I will issue an executive order to extend the period of time before the law’s prohibitions come into force, so that we can make an agreement to protect our national security,” he written . “The order also confirms 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 is shown on a phone in San Francisco, on January 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
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Trump added that he wanted the United States to have a “50% ownership position in a joint venture.”
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2025-01-19 19:32:00
