Michelle Obama applauded Coco Gauff for choosing 'to speak up' for herself during her tension-filled US Open match

• Coco Gauff beat Germany's Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in her first match of the 2023 US Open.
• Throughout the match, Gauff expressed frustration with her opponent's time-wasting antics.

Coco Gauff was visibly fuming after her opponent's controversial delay tactics resulted in a contentious, nearly 3-hour thriller for her first match of the 2023 US Open.

But just before she was prepared to share her frustrations with the media late Monday night, she got a surprise visit from President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama that "brightened my mood so much."

"I actually just met them right before I came in here so my mood is a little bit nicer," Gauff said during her post-match press conference. "Maybe I'm saying nicer things than I actually planned to, so that lightened my mood."

"I went from being really upset after a win to being really happy, so I'm glad I got to meet them," she added. "And they gave me some good advice, too."

Gauff battled back from a set down to beat Germany's Laura Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 under the bright lights of New York City's Arthur Ashe Stadium. But from the very beginning of the match, the 19-year-old American said she was irritated by Siegemund's time-wasting antics.

She routinely expended the entire 25 seconds on the shot clock before delivering each serve and, according to Gauff, was even "going over the time since the first set." Gauff said that she continually looked to the chair umpire for a solution, but "she didn't do anything."

The world's sixth-ranked women's tennis player tried to be "really patient the whole match." But once the pace of play continued to slow in the decisive third set and "the crowd started to notice" that Siegemund was stalling to try to keep her energy on par with her own, Gauff "was like, 'All right, I have to say something.'"

"On her serve, even though you're supposed to be on time, I was being nice," Gauff said. My team told me I should have spoke up earlier. But then it got to the point where she was doing it a lot on my serve."

"I was like, 'She has to be ready when I'm serving,'" she added.

At the end of the match, Siegemund had received two time violations from chair umpire Marijana Veljović — far fewer than Gauff thought she deserved. Still, Gauff said she was proud of herself for balancing her desire "to express my frustration" while "also being censored."

"When I went up to the ref, I tried to take a deep breath, explain my side of the story the best that I could, while also getting my point across," Gauff said.

"Today I think it was important to show you can do all this, still stick to your ground, and people are going to respect you," she added. "As long as you approach a person with respect, then everything should be fine."

The Obamas viewed the situation similarly. They commended Gauff for "how I handle myself in these situations" during their chat after the match, the teenage star said.

"She did say it's good to speak up for myself," Gauff said Michelle Obama told her. "So I think she was happy that I spoke up for myself today."