According to AP News Coco Gauff found herself in an all too familiar scene on the court and was left in tears.
Coco confronted an officiating decision she was sure was wrong but the chair umpire who wouldn’t listen.
Tears streaming down her cheeks. And, most disappointing of all, a loss, this time at the Paris Olympics.
“There’s 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 said afterward, renewing a call for video review to be used 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 said. “I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
Even the site was the same: Court Philippe Chatrier was where the reigning U.S. Open champion was eliminated in the third round at the Summer Games by Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday.
That’s also the main stadium used annually for the French Open, where Gauff found herself in a nearly identical dispute over a call while being defeated by eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals last month.
Gauff is one of the biggest stars at the 2024 Paris Games, a 20-year-old from Florida who was seeded No. 2 at the Olympics in singles and was the female flag bearer for the United States during the opening ceremony on Friday.
It was Vekic, though, who was receiving much of the support from the stands early in the match, with chants of “Don-na! Don-na!” ringing out.
When Vekic began her comeback after trailing 4-1, she responded to some applause by waving her arms overhead for more — and the crowd responded. In the next game, Gauff delivered a backhand winner and raised a hand, wagging her fingers to ask the folks in the seats to back her — and they responded, drawing a wry smile from Vekic.
By the time the disputed call happened two games from the end of the match, Gauff was way behind.
— Emily Cottontop (@emilycottontop) July 30, 2024
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Today's Coco Gauff loss against Vekic will go in history books for the robbery by the umpire ????
We saw that umpire wrong call destroyed Zverev mental state in RG finals 2024
Today Coco looked destroyed after that call.
Someone need to be held accountable #Olympics pic.twitter.com/0hOKoG8jqU— Vishal ♥️ (@Fans4AlexZverev) July 30, 2024
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Huge argument in the Donna Vekic – Coco Gauff match. Umpire called the ball out before Gauff returned the ball and missed it in break point for Vekic. Ball was in. Coco Gauff crying and saying this always happens to me ???? pic.twitter.com/Fv8zreC1hY
— edgeAI (@edgeaiofficial) July 30, 2024
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I appreciate the commentator doubling down and saying coco gauff was 100% justified for her response
— JussHoop (@jusshoops) July 30, 2024
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They got Coco gauff crying somebody PLS send me to Paris pic.twitter.com/3HZHHeziGQ
— HOOD VOGUE is tired of poverty (@keyon) July 30, 2024
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we ride for coco gauff at dawn THAT REF IS GOING TO HELL!!!!! pic.twitter.com/s3o9XJYnOv
— taurus (@AY0EDEBIRI) July 30, 2024
