The decision from the chair umpire led to a lengthy back and forth with Gauff
Tennis star Coco Gauff has been eliminated from the women’s singles portion of the 2024 Paris Olympics after losing 7-6, 6-2 to Croatia’s Donna Vekic. However, the loss came in very controversial fashion.
Gauff was trailing in the second set 3-2 when she was facing a break point at 30-40. When the 20-year old stepped back in order to connect on a backhand shot, the linesperson ruled that the previous shot was out as she made contact with the ball.
The linesperson ended up awarding a point to Vekic, and Gauff was extremely displeased with the call. In fact, a five-minute argument unfolded in which Gauff pleaded her case and got extremely emotional.
Gauff could even be heard saying “I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game.”
“I felt that they called it before I hit,” Gauff said after the match. “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.”
“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.”
Following the controversial point, Vekic managed to record break points and eventually took a 5-2 lead. Gauff was clearly rattled by the situation and never able to recover.
Gauff still has a chance to secure a gold medal in doubles and mixed doubles, but her Olympics singles journey is in the books.
