Rising tennis star Coco Gauff’s Olympic journey ended as she was eliminated from the women’s singles competition at the Paris 2024 Games.
After a furious altercation with an umpire, Coco Gauff broke down in tears and was eliminated from the Olympic women’s singles competition.
The 20-year-old American was already trailing by a lot when the episode happened two games from the end of the match.
The defending U.S. Open champion Gauff fell to Croatian Donna Vekic 7-6 (7), 6-2 in a third-round singles match on Tuesday in Paris.
Vekic returned Gauff’s serve during a breakpoint in the second set, and the Croatian’s shot fell close to the baseline. The shot was in, but the line judge initially ruled it out of bounds. Gauff did not, however, keep the ball in play and instead struck it into the net following the “out” call.
Chair umpire Jaume Campistol gave Vekic the point because he thought the “out” call didn’t impact Gauff’s swing.
Gauff was visibly upset and could be seen pleading her case to the umpire to the extent that the reigning U.S. Open champion was ultimately brought to tears over the unfair ruling.
Gauff was heard on the broadcast telling the ump, “He called it out before I hit it, so I went up on the ball. This isn’t fair; he called it out before I hit the ball… If he called it out before I hit it, it affects the swing.”
At one point, the umpire told Gauff, “I know I’m wrong, but I cannot change my decision after your appeal.”
“I never argue these calls,” Gauff said through tears. “You don’t understand. I have to advocate for myself on this court all the time.”
After that, a referee was brought onto the court to settle the disagreement.
“This isn’t fair,” Gauff continued. I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. And then you guys apologize afterward. You guys say, ‘I’m sorry,’ but what does that do for me in the match? It happens to me, it happens to Serena (Williams)… You guys are not fair to me. I hope that one day the game becomes fair, but it’s not.”
The argument appeared to weigh heavily on Gauff as the match went on, which affected her performance. The young star tried her hardest to recover, but she was unable to maintain her composure, ultimately leading to her defeat.
After the minutes-long heated debate, Vekic took a 4-2 lead and won the match, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
Gauff was obviously upset about the match’s outcome and sobbed on the court after it was over.
Gauff’s Olympic career came to an unsatisfactory end with the defeat, as she was regarded as one of Team USA’s strongest prospects for a tennis medal.
