Coco Gauff Suffers Defeat And Disputes With Chair Umpire During Paris Olympics Match Against Donna Vekic.

PARIS – Coco Gauff experienced a sense of déjà vu at the Paris Olympics. She found herself disagreeing with an officiating decision, unable to get through to the chair umpire, tears streaming down her face. And, to make matters worse, she suffered a loss, this time at the Olympics in Paris.

The setting was familiar too: Court Philippe Chatrier, the same court where she was knocked out in the third round of the Summer Games by Donna Vekic of Croatia, with a score of 76(7) and 62. This court is also where Gauff had a similar dispute during the French Open semifinals last month, when she lost to Iga Swiatek, the eventual champion.

Reflecting on the incidents, Gauff expressed her frustration and once again called for the implementation of video review in tennis, a feature that is common in many other professional sports. “There have been multiple times this year where that’s happened to me – where I felt like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” Gauff stated.

Gauff believed that the umpire had made the call before she even hit the ball, and although the referee may not have disagreed, they felt it didn’t affect Gauff’s swing. However, Gauff strongly believed otherwise, stating, “I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed. I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”

Gauff, the 20-year-old American who was seeded No. 2 in singles at the Olympics, was already trailing by a significant margin when the controversial incident took place, occurring just two games away from the end of the match.

During the match, Gauff hit a serve and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline. The line judge initially called Vekic’s shot out, and Gauff did not continue play. However, the chair umpire, Jaume Campistol, believed Vekic’s shot was in and awarded her the point, leading to a service break and a 4-2 lead for Vekic.

Frustrated by the decision, Gauff approached the official, causing a delay in play for several minutes. Gauff insisted, “I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball. It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”

Prior to the disputed call, Gauff had a strong start against Vekic, leading 4-1 and even being one point away from taking a 5-1 lead and ultimately serving for the first set. However, Gauff failed to close out the set and squandered a couple of set points in the ensuing tiebreaker, allowing Vekic to take control and win the set.

Vekic maintained her dominance throughout the match, finishing with 33 winners compared to Gauff’s meager 9. Although Gauff admitted that one point wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the match, she made a reference to her loss against Swiatek at the French Open while voicing her frustration during the conversation with Campistol and a supervisor on the court.

After the argument, Gauff resumed play, but the spectators expressed their discontentment by loudly booing the official. Gauff managed to win the first point of the next game, which led to cheers from the crowd. However, the match came to an end around ten minutes later, with Gauff’s dreams of winning a medal in singles at the Olympics shattered.

Despite this disappointment, Gauff still has doubles matches to look forward to with her teammate Taylor Fritz in mixed doubles and Jessica Pegula in women’s doubles. She expressed her desire to come home with at least one medal, reaffirming her determination to make the most of her remaining events in Paris.