Woman battling breast cancer meets Coco Gauff at the Cincinnati Open
MASON, Ohio —
Tennis star Coco Gauff had a thrilling end to the Cincinnati Open on Sunday, defeating Jessica Pegula for her second Cincinnati Open women’s title.
One person who was perhaps just as thrilled as Coco got to see her play in the tournament during a trip of a lifetime.
Roberta Eaton, a 79-year-old woman from Atlanta, has had a tough year, battling a second bout with breast cancer and taking care of her ill husband.
When her children wanted to do something to celebrate her upcoming 80th birthday, a lightbulb went off to get her to Cincinnati for the annual tennis tournament.
Eaton has been a tennis lover and a spectator since the late 1960s. No matter the time or place, when Coco is playing a match, Eaton is watching.
“I followed Arthur Ashe, I followed Zina Garrison and the Williams sisters forever, and I still follow them, and then Osaka and Coco,” Roberta said.
This year, Eaton has faced a couple of fierce opponents of her own.
Her husband suffered a brain injury due to sepsis, and breast cancer made a return 20 years after she beat it for the first time.
When her daughter N’Jeri got tickets to the Cincinnati Open, she posted them on social media and tagged Gauff.
“I posted it on Tuesday night (and) at some point on Thursday, I got connected to Coco’s assistant,” N’Jeri Eaton said. “She told me it was her dad who actually saw the video first and then shared.”
Another fan who had courtside seats made sure to look out for Coco’s biggest fan and brought her down to her seats.
From there, Coco’s team and the Cincinnati Open staff coordinated to make Roberta’s dream come true.
“It has been the absolute time of my life,” Roberta said.
Roberta will be 80 on Sept. 6.
Originally, her kids wanted to get her tickets to see Coco at the U.S. Open, but Roberta said she loves Cincinnati and has family here, so she wanted to be at this year’s tournament.