Coco Gauff was in tears after she got into a lengthy argument with the chair umpire during her loss to Donna Vekic at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
Gauff, the reigning US Open singles champion, was trailing 7-6, 6-2 in the second set when she clashed with the umpire.
Gauff hit a serve and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline. A linesman initially called Vekic’s shot out and Gauff failed to keep the ball in play. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol ruled Vekic’s shot in and awarded her the point, giving the Croatian a service break and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff went to the official to talk and the game was delayed for a few minutes. “I never argue about these decisions. But he shouted it before I hit the ball,” Gauff told Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to stand up for myself.”
The American was seeded second in the women’s singles in Paris and won her first two matches comfortably, losing just five games in total. But the 20-year-old’s first Olympic singles tournament – she is still competing in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles – ended with a performance that was far from her best on the hottest day of the Paris Games so far, with temperatures soaring above 32C (90F) during her match.
Even before the umpire’s troubles, Gauff couldn’t get off to a good start against Vekic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon this month. Gauff led 4-1 and was a point away from going 5-1 up and serving for the opening set. But she couldn’t close the deal, then squandered a pair of set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Vekic raced to the end of that set and held her ground in the second. A measure of Vekic’s superiority this afternoon: she finished with 33 winners to just nine for Gauff.
But the most memorable part of the match was the dispute in the second set. It’s not the first time Gauff has been upset about a decision she thought was wrong, and it’s not the first time at Roland Garros, which is hosting the French Open and this summer’s Olympic tennis tournament.
There was a similar incident during Gauff’s loss to eventual champion Iga Świątek in the French Open semifinals last month. After that match, Gauff called it “almost ridiculous” that tennis doesn’t use video replay technology at all events.
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She alluded to the match in Świątek during a conversation with Campistol and a supervisor who was on the court for the conversation on Tuesday. “It always happens to me here at the French Open. Every time,” Gauff said. “This is the fourth, fifth time it’s happened this year.”
When Gauff gave up and went back onto the court to resume play, fans booed loudly—their anger seemingly directed at the officials. The first point of the next game went to Gauff, and spectators cheered wildly for her. But about 10 minutes later, the game was over.