Coco Gauff lost to Donna Vekic in straight sets Tuesday morning, ending the U.S. flag-bearer’s Olympic singles run in the third round. Much earlier than expected.
Gauff was a big favorite entering the match at -714 at BetMGM, but the Croatian, Vekic, won a first-set tiebreaker before cruising to a 6-2 second set to pull off the upset and advance to the quarterfinals.
Her win didn’t come without a little controversy, though.
One point was awarded to Vekic on a return shot Gauff hit into the net after the chair umpire had already incorrectly ruled Vekic’s shot out. Though the ump corrected himself, he probably should have replayed the point after distracting Gauff’s shot. Instead, he simply gave it to Vekic, which broke Gauff’s serve and led to a heated argument that brought Gauff to tears.
Coco Gauff talking through tears as she’s not happy with the umpire in her match at Olympics
Vekic’s ball was called out, but it was in, so the line judge corrected it.
Coco hit that ball into the net.
The umpire says it’s Donna’s point. He believes the ‘out’ call didn’t… pic.twitter.com/VKoCV79bOT
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 30, 2024
Gauff could be heard arguing how unfairly she was being treated, a familiar theme at Roland Garros where she had a similar experience last month in the French Open semifinals — a moment that led her to advocate for instant replay in tennis.
She again called for a replay system after the loss to Vekic.
Coco Gauff: “I feel like in tennis, we should have a VAR system because these points are big deals. Usually, afterwards they apologize. It’s kind of frustrating when the sorry doesn’t help you once the match is over.”
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) July 30, 2024
“I don’t think the ref disagreed,” Gauff said after the match. “I think he just thought it didn’t, like, affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
Her loss hardly came down to one point, but tennis fans on social media agreed the ruling was egregious and rallied behind Gauff.
Social media reaction
‼️WTF. @CocoGauff got TOTALLY SCREWED by the chair umpire. The linesman screamed “out” then correct the call, which distracted Coco.
The chair umpire *should* have replayed the (break) point, but instead gave it to Coco’s opponent. TERRIBLE CALL.🤬#tennis #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/inmphxneE8
— Dena Grayson, MD, PhD (@DrDenaGrayson) July 30, 2024
This Coco Gauff situation is RIDICULOUS. I’m glad she…
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