Coco Gauff Loses An Argument With The Chair Umpire And A Match To Donna Vekic At The Paris Olympics

PARIS — Coco Gauff found the situation all too familiar. She was certain that the officiating judgment was improper. A chair umpire who did not listen. Tears run down her cheeks. Most depressing of all was a loss at the Paris Olympics.

Even the venue remained the same: Court Philippe Chatrier, where the reigning U.S. Open champion was knocked out in the third round of the Summer Games by Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday. That is also the primary venue for the French Open, where Gauff lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals last month after a virtually identical argument over a call.

Coco Gauff Loses An Argument With The Chair Umpire And A Match To Donna Vekic At The Paris Olympics

“That’s happened to me several times this year, and I’ve felt like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” Gauff said later, reiterating his request for a video review to be utilized in tennis, as it is in many other professional sports.

“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed,” she told me. “I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”

Gauff, a 20-year-old from Florida, is one of the brightest stars at the 2024 Paris Games. She was seeded second in singles and was the female flag bearer for the United States at the opening ceremony on Friday.

Vekic, however, received much support from the fans early in the match, with chants of “Don-na! Don-na!” ringing out. When Vekic began her comeback from a 4-1 deficit, she waved her arms skyward for greater applause, and the audience reciprocated. In the next game, Gauff hit a backhand winner and lifted her hand, waving her fingers to beg the spectators to support her — which they did, prompting a sly chuckle from Vekic.

Gauff was far behind when the controversial call occurred two games before the match’s finale.

She hit a serve, and Vekic’s return fell near the baseline. A line judge first ruled Vekic’s shot out, and Gauff did not retain the ball in play. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought Vekic’s shot went in and awarded her the point, giving her a service break and a 4-2 advantage.

Gauff stepped over to speak with the official, and play was halted for several minutes.

“I never dispute on these calls. “But he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff told Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”

She easily won her first two singles matches, dropping only five games. But her first Olympic singles tournament—she is still in women’s doubles and mixed doubles—ended with a performance that was far from her finest on the hottest day of the Summer Games thus far, with temperatures rising beyond 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius).

“These are major points. They usually apologize after that. So it’s irritating. “The ‘Sorry’ doesn’t help you after the match,” Gauff explained. “I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point.”

Even before the umpiring controversy, Gauff struggled to get off to a decent start against Vekic, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals earlier this month.

The American led 4-1 and was a point away from going up 5-1 and serving for the first set. But she didn’t seal the deal and squandered several set points at 6-4 in the next tiebreaker. Vekic raced to the end of the first set and maintained her pace in the second.

Vekic won 33 races to Gauff’s nine, demonstrating her dominance this afternoon.

“I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today,” Gauff conceded, “because I was already on the losing side of things.”

However, the most notable moment of the match was the second-set disagreement. Gauff even brought up Swiatek’s loss while speaking with Campistol and a supervisor who joined the conversation on the court Tuesday.

“It always occurs at the French Open to me. “Every time,” Gauff remarked, clutching a tennis ball and her racket in the other, stating her case. “This is the fourth, fifth time it’s happened this year.”

Vekic, who reached the quarterfinals, did not participate, remaining at her end of the court and toying with her strings.

“This is a very hard position. When asked what transpired, Vekic stated, “I thought the umpire made a good decision because the call came quite late.” “But I’ll need to rewatch it. It’s difficult to know exactly at the moment.”

When Gauff gave up and returned to the court to restart play, supporters booed loudly in anger at the official.

Gauff scored the first point of the next game, and the crowd erupted in celebration.

Coco Gauff Loses An Argument With The Chair Umpire And A Match To Donna Vekic At The Paris Olympics

However, the battle ended around ten minutes later.

Gauff was set to return to the court with American partner Taylor Fritz later Tuesday for a first-round mixed doubles match. She also plays in women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula at the Olympics.

Over the weekend, Gauff said she hoped to leave with three medals, one from each of her events in Paris. That will not happen now.

“I want,” Gauff remarked Tuesday, “to come home with something.”

SOURCE | AP