'Amazingly we have blue!' Gauff wins Cincinnati coin toss for the ages
CINCINNATI -- The most impressive moment from Coco Gauff and Marta Kostyuk's Cincinnati quarterfinal arguably came well before the two played an official point on Stadium Court.
Usually the coin toss takes a matter of seconds. Either the chair umpire or a designated special guest quickly flips the coin after a player makes their heads or tails selection, or blue or black in this case tonight. But today's special guest, a Cincinnati Open young fan, made sure to give the fans, chair umpire Tom Sweeney and both players a coin toss to remember.
We might have set the record for the tallest coin toss 🤯#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/67WLasXvS1
— wta (@WTA) August 22, 2026
"Amazingly we have blue," Sweeney said after the young girl launched the coin so far into the air -- out of the bird's eye, camera angle's view.
Gauff and Sweeney even had to take a few steps back to see how the rocket toss would unfold, and the Cincinnati crowd surely noticed too, gasping in humor. Still, it's debatable what's most the impressive part of the toss -- the power, the height, the straight trajectory or the perfect landing.
"Yeah, honestly I had a feeling because she -- [the chair umpire] asked her who did she want to ask [to call the toss] and she looked back-and-forth for 15 seconds," Gauff said to press Friday evening, laughing. "I just knew she was there for the drama so I knew the coin toss was going high, and it's amazing that it landed on the side that I wanted it too [laughing]."
Gauff chose correctly and elected to serve, and would later prevail in straight sets vs. Kostyuk. The American will face unseeded Sara Bejlek for a spot in the Cincinnati final.
As for the young girl, she took part in the traditional pre-match photo at the net with both players and got to keep the coin as a token for her participation.