Current:Home > InvestCoco Gauff loses an argument with the chair umpire and a match to Donna Vekic at the Paris Olympics -GrowthInsight
Coco Gauff loses an argument with the chair umpire and a match to Donna Vekic at the Paris Olympics
View
Date:2025-04-14 19:00:14
Live updates: Follow AP’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, including the women’s gymnastics team finals.
PARIS (AP) — The scene felt all too familiar to Coco Gauff. An officiating decision she was sure was wrong. A chair umpire who wouldn’t listen. Tears streaming down her cheeks. And, most disappointing of all, a loss, this time at the Paris Olympics.
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.
“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.”
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.
Later Tuesday, Gauff returned to the court with U.S. teammate Taylor Fritz and won a first-round mixed doubles match, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 10-5 against Nadia Podoroska and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina to get to the quarterfinals. Gauff also is competing in women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics with Jessica Pegula.
“At the end of the day, if anything, doubles make you want to go out there more. You don’t want to ruin someone else’s chances based off your mentality,” Gauff said. “Taylor and I were talking about it earlier: A medal is a medal. I have two other events I can possibly do that in, so I’m just focused on that.”
Paris Olympics
- The men’s Olympic triathlon has been postponed over Seine water quality concerns. Read more here.
- Take a look at everything else to watch on Day 4.
- See AP’s top photos from the 2024 Paris Olympics here.
- See the Olympic schedule of events and follow all of AP’s coverage of the Summer Games.
- Here is a link to the Olympic medal tracker.
- Want more? Sign up for our daily Postcards from Paris newsletter.
In singles, it was Vekic 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.
She hit a serve and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline. A line judge initially called Vekic’s shot out; Gauff did not keep the ball in play. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought Vekic’s shot landed in and awarded her the point, giving her a service break and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff walked over to talk to the official and play was delayed for several minutes.
“I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff said to Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”
She easily won her first two singles matches, dropping a total of just five games. But her first Olympic singles tournament ended with a performance that was hardly her best on the hottest day of the Summer Games so far, with the heat rising above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
“These points are big deals. Usually afterward, they apologize. So it’s kind of frustrating. The ‘Sorry’ doesn’t help you once the match is over,” Gauff said. “I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point.”
Even before the trouble over the umpiring decision, Gauff could not sustain a good start against Vekic, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon this month.
The American led 4-1 and was a point from moving ahead 5-1 and serving for the opening set. But she didn’t close the deal, then wasted a couple of set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Vekic surged to the end of that set, then maintained her level in the second.
One measure of Vekic’s superiority on this afternoon: She finished with 33 winners to just nine for Gauff.
“I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today,” Gauff acknowledged, “because I was already on the losing side of things.”
Still, the most memorable moment in the match was that second-set argument. Gauff even alluded to that Swiatek loss while talking to Campistol and a supervisor who joined the conversation on the court Tuesday.
“It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time,” Gauff said, holding a tennis ball in one hand and her racket in the other while pleading her case. “This is like the fourth, fifth time it’s happened this year.”
Vekic, who advanced to the quarterfinals, did not get involved, staying at her end of the court and fiddling with her strings.
“It’s a very tricky situation. I personally thought the umpire made a good decision, because the call came quite late,” Vekic said when asked afterward about what happened. “But I’ll have to rewatch it. It’s tough to know exactly in the moment.”
When Gauff gave up and headed back on court to resume play, fans booed loudly — anger directed at the official.
The first point of the next game went Gauff’s way, and spectators cheered wildly for her.
But about 10 minutes later, the match was over.
Over the weekend, Gauff spoke about aiming to leave with three medals — one from each of her events in Paris. That won’t happen now.
“I want,” Gauff said Tuesday, “to come home with something.”
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
veryGood! (8356)
Related
- What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
- Craving more aliens after congressional hearing? Here are 3 UFO docuseries on streaming
- More than 40,000 Americans are genetically related to 27 enslaved people excavated from Maryland
- Is it election season? Pakistan leader moves to disband parliament, his jailed nemesis seeks release
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Riley Keough honors late brother, grandpa Elvis Presley with uncommon baby name
- 3 men charged with assault in Montgomery, Alabama, boating brawl that went viral
- 19 Shower Caddy Essentials You Need for Your Dorm
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Return of the crab twins
Ranking
- Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast
- Who is sneaking fentanyl across the southern border? Hint: it's not the migrants
- NCAA denies hardship waiver for Florida State's Darrell Jackson, who transferred for ailing mom
- Chrysler recalls nearly 45,000 vehicles because interior trim may interfere with air bags
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- Stranger Things Star Noah Schnapp Shares College Dorm Essentials for the Best School Year Yet
- Octavia Spencer Says Her Heart Is Broken for Sandra Bullock After Soulmate Bryan Randall's Death
- NYC doctor accused of drugging, filming himself sexually assaulting patients
Recommendation
DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
Wegovy patients saw 20% reduction in cardiovascular risks, drugmaker says
Sinéad O'Connor Laid to Rest in Private Ceremony Attended by U2's Bono
A proposed constitutional change before Ohio voters could determine abortion rights in the state
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez's cause of death revealed as accidental drug overdose, reports say
Nevada governor seeks to use coronavirus federal funds for waning private school scholarships
District attorney threatens to charge officials in California’s capital over homelessness response