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Shattered Coco Gauff Feels ‘Cheated’ After Heated Argument With Umpire Leads To Controversial Olympic Loss Vs Donna Venice
Coco Gauff was seen in tears after her elimination from the singles event in the Paris Olympics in a very controversial fashion.
Tennis player Coco Gauff, who was the flag bearer for Team USA in the Olympic opening ceremony, lost to Croatian Donna Vekic 7-6, 6-2, and is now eliminated from the women's singles competition.
Gauff still has a chance to win medals in the doubles and mixed doubles categories, but considering how well she played in the first two rounds of the competition and her solid record on Roland Garros clay in the French Open, her performance on Tuesday was unexpected and unsatisfactory. It's also a result that has caused controversy as well.
What’s the controversy?
In a closely contested match that went all the way to 7-6, 3-2, Gauff faced a huge break point at 30-40. Gauff swung her racket and missed. She instantly decelerated as the linesperson called an out, and then she retreated to hit a backhand.
However, the chair umpire had a different opinion, rejecting the out call and giving Vekic the point. After a five-minute argument, Gauff appeared to be crying and called the tournament supervisor, while saying, "I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game."
After the match started, Gauff had a chance to return the favor by reaching 0–40 on Vekic's serve in the following game. However, Vekic was able to hold onto the breakpoints and build a 5-2 lead. Then, a trembling Gauff was easily broken, paving the way for Vekic, who just advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals, to continue.
What did Gauff say?
"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. I always have to advocate for myself."
Having been seeded second in Paris, Gauff easily won both of her opening singles matches, dropping a combined five games. However, on the hottest day of the Summer Games thus far, with temperatures rising above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), her first Olympic singles competition ended with hardly her best performance. She is still competing in the women's doubles and mixed doubles categories.
Not the first bad call against Gauff
Gauff has been upset by calls she believes to be incorrect before. Gauff experienced a similar situation during her semifinal loss at the French Open last month to eventual champion Iga Swiatek.
Regarding the chair umpire, she also had no luck. The fact that tennis does not use video replay technology at all events, unlike many other sports, was dubbed "almost ridiculous" by Gauff following that match.
ALSO READ: Coco Gauff's Experiences Abandonment In Olympic Village By US Tennis Team
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