One of Coco Gauff‘s aspiring medal runs at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris came to an end on July 30. The tennis star lost out to Croatia’s Donna Vekić after losing two of the best-of-three sets 7-6, and then 6-2. The latter, however, came on the back of marked misgivings that Gauff had about the match’s officiating.
During the second set, which at the time stood at 3-2 in favor of Vekić, Gauff found herself in the middle of a break point (i.e. if she managed to secure this point, she would win the game, and the set would go to 3-3). Vekić’s return hit the line, but as Gauff was preparing to hit the ball with a backhand, the linesperson called it out, seemingly causing Gauff to decelerate her swing and subsequently miss. The umpire, however, believed that the linesperson’s call had no effect on Gauff’s swing, overruling the call and awarding the point to Vekić.
Gauff immediately took issue with the call, initiating an argument with the umpire that lasted about five minutes; one that left Gauff visibly upset as she referenced her past experiences with similar officiating incidents (such as one that occurred in her loss to eventual champion Iga Świątek in the 2024 French Open). Shortly after the match, Gauff did not blame her loss to Vekić on the match’s officiating, but nevertheless called for video replay systems to be implemented into professional tennis.
Gauff is ranked No. 2 in the world and is still participating in the Olympics in the women’s doubles and mixed singles events, with partners Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, respectively.
Published: Jul 30, 2024 12:56 pm