The tennis star Coco Gauff, who was the female American flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympics last week, broke down in tears during a heated exchange with the chair umpire as she crashed out of the singles event in the third round.
Gauff Breaks Down In Tears
Gauff, who was the number 2 seed, lost to Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Wednesday in Paris. Things went off the rails two games before the match ended when Gauff hit a serve and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline before the American hit it into the net. The shot was initially called out, but chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought it landed in and handed Vekic the point. This gave her a crucial service break and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff, 20, was horrified by this and walked over to Campistol to plead her case. A heated argument between the two of them immediately ensued.
“I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff said to Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself.”
“This isn’t fair. I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. I constantly feel like that,” she continued as she broke down in tears. “And then you guys apologize afterwards, you say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then what does that do for me in the match?”
“This always happens to me,” Gauff lamented as her tears started to flow even more.
Gauff’s French Open Nightmare
Indeed, something similar did happen to Gauff last month at the French Open, which is played at this same venue. In her semifinal match against the tournament’s eventual champion Iga Swiatek, Gauff told her chair umpire that it is “almost ridiculous” that tennis doesn’t use video replay technology at all events. Gauff went on to lose to Swiatek 6-2, 6-4.
“I don’t think the ref disagreed. I think he just thought it didn’t like, affect my swing, which I felt like it did,” she told reporters afterwards. “There have been multiple times this year where that happened to me where I feel like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court.”
“I feel like in tennis, we should have a VAR system because these points are big deals,” Gauff added. “Usually, afterwards they apologize. It’s kind of frustrating when the sorry doesn’t help you once the match is over.”
This is the first Olympic games for Gauff. Though she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021, she had to drop out after testing positive for COVID-19.
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Gauff Can Still Win An Olympic Medal
Gauff may be out of the singles event, but she still has two options to win a gold medal. She is still in the women’s doubles event, where she is the number 1 seed with her American compatriot Jessica Pegula. They are set to take on the Czech duo of Karolina Muchová and Linda Nosková in the second round.
Meanwhile, Gauff is also entered into the mixed doubles Olympic event with the American men’s player Taylor Fritz. They are the third seeds in that event and will be taking on the Argentinians Nadia Podoroska and Máximo González in the first round.
Here’s hoping that Gauff is able to shake off this singles loss and still make her gold medal dreams come true!