Coco Gauff gets French Open moment with Spike Lee hug after giving him ‘something to cheer for’ after Knicks loss

No Knicks in the NBA Finals meant Spike Lee flew to Paris for a different American sports victory.

The Academy Award-winning American filmmaker was in attendance for Coco Gauff’s first Roland Garros title on Saturday morning, witnessing the 21-year-old take down world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.

Dressed in all white with a Yankees hat and sunglasses, Lee, with the occasional seat twitching during the competitive, two-hour and 38-minute match, stood up and cheered on Gauff to her second Grand Slam win.

Gauff, 21, eventually fell to the ground as tears rolled down her face in victory, and before going up to her family and coaches’ box to greet them, she stopped to see Lee.

The young American greeted Lee, giving him a hug and several high-fives before Gauff moved along with the French Open festivities.

Gauff, despite being a Georgia native, understood how much the Knicks-Pacers series meant to Lee.

During the post-match press conference, she said she planned on saying something if she ended up winning the match.

“And when I saw him on the court, I was like ‘If I win this match, the first person I’m gonna dab up is Spike Lee,” she said. “So, once I won the match, I went to the ground and everything, I went straight to Spike Lee. I wanted to tell him, ‘I had to do it. You know, even if the Knicks didn’t win, I’m glad I gave him something to cheer for.’ So, yeah, that was pretty cool. I haven’t seen the video yet, but I’m excited to see it.”

Although Lee is a frequent visitor to the U.S. Open — the last major of the season held in Flushing, Queens — Gauff admitted that the brief interaction was her first official meeting with him.

“That was the first time I really met him up close,” she said. “I’ve seen him at my matches at the U.S. Open, and when I saw him on the court today, I saw him when I was warming up. They panned the camera to him in the gym when I was warming up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Spike Lee is here.’ And then I kinda felt bad because I usually put my towel in that spot, which is why I feel like he sat there. But because you know the lower-ranked player gets the other box, I put my towel in the other box.”

With the victory, Gauff became the first American woman in a decade to win the French Open, since Serena Williams did so in 2015.

She is also the youngest American to win the women’s singles title since 2002, when Williams — at 20 years old — won the first of her three career titles in Paris.