American tennis star Coco Gauff had a bit of a meltdown following her recent Australian Open matchup with Ukrainian and world number 12, Elina Svitolina.
Gauff got hammered pretty good in the quarterfinal matchup in which she, as the world’s number three-ranked player, was heavily favored. She had double faults galore and struggled with her forehand before dropping the contest in straight sets, 1-6, 2-6.
Svitolina won in under an hour.
Gauff took her frustrations out on her racket, having three of them restrung during the first set alone. After the match, she let her frustrations out even further. She smashed the final racket of the day on a concrete floor.
La BRONCA de Coco Gauff tras perder en solo 59 minutos… 🤯🔥
— ESPN Tenis (@ESPNtenis) January 27, 2026
📺 Mirá el #AO26 en el Plan Premium de Disney Plus. pic.twitter.com/Jdrx4Y3CFA
Coco Gauff’s Racket Smash at the Australian Open Goes Viral – And She’s Not Happy About It
Look, we’re not going to give her any grief for venting. We’ve all been there. Anybody who plays tennis has smashed a racket on something before.
Additionally, Gauff suggested she thought she was in a private area away from cameras. She was not happy that the video had gone viral.
“I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras,” she told reporters. “I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in the final of the US Open – I feel like they don’t need to broadcast.”
“I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did. Maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room,” Gauff added.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, one has to assume cameras are everywhere. And the media will no doubt exploit every little thing they find. Personally, I’m all for Coco’s meltdown. It shows passion and a desire to win.
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Aryna Sabalenka did something similar and was heavily criticized for her actions. How many times did men’s players like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe get ripped for taking their anger out on their rackets?
Will Gauff be criticized to the same degree? Probably not. We hope not.
Earlier in the tournament, Gauff complained that being a black woman in America is difficult under the current administration.
“At this point, I feel a bit fatigued talking about it just because of the fact that it is hard also being a Black woman in this country and having to experience things, even online, and seeing marginalized communities being affected,” she said.
In reality, the media is often very nice to her. She’s also a millionaire. Not much to complain about, really.