Coco Gauff's close friend Jalen Sera drops 2-word reaction to American's amusing fail at Italian Open

Coco Gauff's close friend, Jalen Sera, was recently amused by the American's hilarious overhead miss during her fourth-round match at the 2025 Italian Open on Monday (May 12). The fourth seed was in red-hot form at Foro Italico as she dismantled Emma Raducanu in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals.

Gauff was quick to get off the blocks during her second-career encounter against Raducanu in Rome, breaking the Brit twice in the opening set to nab it 6-1 in 40 minutes. The second set followed in a similar fashion as the 21-year-old booked her last-eight spot at the 1000-level event with a 6-1, 6-2 win in one hour and 21 minutes.

Coco Gauff later took to her Instagram handle to post a picture and a video of her outing at the Italian Open on Monday. In the first photo, the World No. 3 was facepalming at her miss at the net, where she failed to make contact with an overhead ball from her opponent. Luckily for her, the American's racket frame didn't touch the ball and the shot went way long. Even her friend and regular supporter, Jalen Sera, saw the funny side of her overhead fail, going by his reply to her carousel post.

"She said 🤭," Jalen Sera wrote in the comments to his friend's Instagram post on Monday.

oco Gauff's friend Jalen Sera amused by American's hilarious overhead fail at Italian Open | Image Source: Getty

For those unaware, Sera is a budding actor from Durham, North Carolina, with film credits from Honest T (2023), Troll (2023), and Telensia, City of AI (2025). He has been a close confidant of Gauff since their early years and also regularly interacts with her family's social media posts.

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Coco Gauff will face Mirra Andreeva in Madrid Open rematch for a place in semifinals of Italian Open 2025

Coco Gauff hits a backhand during her Italian Open 3R match | Image Source: Getty

Coco Gauff will next face seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva in a blockbuster quarterfinal clash at the 2025 Italian Open on Wednesday (May 14). The American leads the 17-year-old teen prodigy 3-0 in their head-to-head meetings on the WTA Tour. More recently, she beat the Russian 7-5, 6-1 in the last eight in Madrid en route to her first runner-up finish at a 1000-level event on clay.

The 2023 US Open has enjoyed a good campaign this year despite a slow start to her year. She has won 22 of her 29 matches thus far and will be eager to pick up her first singles title of 2025 later this week.