Coco Gauff was left in tears during her third-round singles loss to Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the Paris Olympics on Tuesday due to a brutal call from the umpire.
During a break point in the second set, Vekic returned Gauff’s serve, and the Croatian’s shot landed near the baseline. A line judge initially called the shot out of bounds, but it was actually in. However, because of the “out” call, Gauff did not keep the ball in play and hit it into the net afterward. The chair umpire, Jaume Campistol, awarded Vekic the point because he believed the “out” call shouldn’t have affected Gauff’s swing.
Gauff was visibly upset and could be seen pleading her case to the umpire to the extent that the reigning U.S. Open champion was ultimately brought to tears over the unfair ruling.
“He called it out before I hit it so I went up on the ball,” Gauff could be heard telling the ump on the broadcast. “This isn’t fair, he called it out before I hit the ball… If he called it out before I hit it, it affects the swing.”
“I know I’m wrong, but I cannot change my decision after your appeal,” the ump told Gauff at one point.
“I never argue these calls,” Gauff said through tears. “You don’t understand, I have to always advocate for myself on this court all the time.”
A referee was then brought onto the court to mediate the dispute.
“This isn’t fair,” Gauff continued. “I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. And then you guys apologize afterwards, you guys say, ‘I’m sorry,’ but what does that do for me in the match?...It happens to me, it happens to Serena [Williams]... You guys are not fair to me. I hope that one day the game becomes fair, but it’s not.”
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
Gauff to the Supervisor while crying.
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) July 30, 2024
"I feel like I'm getting cheated constantly in this game. This is the 3rd time this happens to me this year".
Vekic took a 4-2 lead after the minutes-long heated debate and ended up winning the match, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Coco Gauff Brought to Tears During Emotional Argument With Umpire After Brutal Call.
