The race to the WTA Finals is over
posted by u/hawaiianmonkseal · 2026-10-21 13:43 UTC
## Top comments
1. u/Safe-Spray7797 · 2026-10-21 13:44 UTC
Kinda funny how everyones surname ends in a apart from coco haha
2. u/Catcholla_000 · 2026-10-21 13:47 UTC
Coco Gauffova
3. u/curiousity_cat99 · 2026-10-21 13:53 UTC
Her Wikipedia page in Czech actually has that as her listed name lol
Btw for all the Czech speakers, do Czech commentators use the added suffix version during tennis broadcasts or do they stick to the foreign person’s original name?
4. u/pauliaomi · 2026-10-21 14:04 UTC
It depends - the suffix is mandatory to be used by national television so when they broadcast sports, they always add it. Private companies can do what they want. WTA is mostly broadcast by Canal+ here so some of the commentators there like to use the original names.
The whole point of it is that Czech sentence word order is super flexible because native words and names change depending on their role in the sentence - this can't be done with foreign female names. Ofc it's still possible to make your statement perfectly clear but it limits how you can construct sentences. So yeah, Coco Gauffová..........
5. u/curiousity_cat99 · 2026-10-21 15:33 UTC
Wow that’s super interesting, I wish I could speak Czech lol.
Btw, I really am fascinated by Czechia’s role in tennis. You guys have an amazing history with tennis and always produce quality players!
6. u/libellule2008 · 2026-10-21 15:28 UTC
Really? Interesting! Polish language is very similar but we don’t change names like Gauff
7. u/VernieBoi · 2026-10-21 14:05 UTC
They use it, even when they already have -ova they use it, like Sharapovova
8. u/Ottawa_points · 2026-10-21 15:02 UTC
Sharapova is so ova
9. u/AdeSarius · 2026-10-21 16:11 UTC
Yes, it sounds a bit weird especially for certain names (such as Osakaová or Sharapovová), but it has its purpose because of how we construct sentences and change the suffixes of words to make the meaning clear. For example the sentence "Muchova won against Gauff" we'd say as "Muchová vyhrála proti (=won against) Gauffové", if we wouldn't use it - "vyhrála proti Gauff" would just sound super weird for a native speaker.
Same way as for men we'd say "Sinner vyhrál proti Alcarazovi", but due to how our gendering of words work we don't call him Carlos Alcarazov, but just classic Alcaraz if he is the subject of the sentence in question.
10. u/aether_prince · 2026-10-21 13:48 UTC
these are the kind of insights i come to r/tennis for
11. u/mrak5 · 2026-10-21 13:46 UTC
Coco Gauffa
12. u/justitiavalet · 2026-10-21 14:08 UTC
not just their last names, their first names also all end in a except coco
13. u/PrinceOfAssassins · 2026-10-21 15:24 UTC
Cocoa Gauff
14. u/MusicianphotogD750 · 2026-10-21 13:55 UTC
They’re all Slavs except for Pegula so it’s less funny and more morphological.
15. u/tankinthewild · 2026-10-21 14:29 UTC
Just googled it and she is Slavic on her dad's side! Bit different from the rest, but that's a fun fact.
16. u/ExperienceOk184 · 2026-10-21 16:02 UTC
pegula is carpatho rusyn which is slavic
17. u/MusicianphotogD750 · 2026-10-21 16:15 UTC
Morphology is undefeated.
18. u/SealDropkovic · 2026-10-21 16:26 UTC
Pegula surname is slavic, Jessica's father is of Carpatho-Rusyn descent through his paternal grandparents, who emigrated from Hanigovce, in present-day Slovakia.
19. u/lilblackcloudinadres · 2026-10-21 14:02 UTC
One time a Tennis Channel commentator was going on about that and refused, doofusly, to understand when Andrea Petkovic ever-so-patiently explained it. He was like, “It’s their first names and their last names, ho ho ho!” while she’s saying, “Yes, doofus, that’s how Eastern European names work.”
Don’t exactly blame him for not knowing. Do exactly blame him for blathering on even after she laid it out for him.
20. u/Icy_Category_2275 · 2026-10-21 15:10 UTC
I wish tennis channel would move Petkovic up to their #2 overall broadcaster, behind Courier, and give her all the run she wants. She is really good. I'm always turning it on and muttering to myself "damnit where is Courier and Andrea".