PARIS– The scene looked very familiar to Coco Gauff. An official decision that she was sure was wrong. A chair umpire who wouldn’t listen. Tears streaming down her face. And, most disappointing of all, a loss, this time in Paris Olympics.
Even the location was the same: the Philippe Chatrier Court was where the reigning government US Open Champion was eliminated in the third round of the Summer Games by Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday. This is also the main stadium used annually for the French Open, where Gauff found himself in a situation almost identical dispute over a call while being defeated by eventual champion Iga Swiatek in last month’s semifinals.
“Many times this year this has happened to me – where I felt like I would always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” Gauff said afterward, renewing a request for a video review to be used in tennis, as it is in many other professional sports. .
“I felt like he called before I hit it and I don’t think the referee disagreed,” she said. “I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, and I felt like it did.”
Gauff is one of the biggest stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics, a 20-year-old from Florida who was seeded second in the Olympic singles and was the woman United States flag bearer during the opening ceremony on Friday.
It was Vekic, however, who received much of the support from the stands at the start of the match, with chants of “Don-na! Don-na! playing. When Vekic began her comeback after trailing 4-1, she responded to some applause by waving her arms for more – and the crowd responded. In the next game, Gauff threw a backhand winner and raised her hand, wagging her fingers to ask the seats to support her – and they responded, eliciting a wry smile from Vekic.
When the contested decision came two games from the end of the match, Gauff was well behind.
She hit a serve and Vekic’s return fell near the baseline. A linesman initially declared Vekic’s shot ruled out; Gauff didn’t keep the ball in play. Presiding referee Jaume Campistol thought Vekic’s shot was on target and awarded him the point, giving him a break in serve and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff went to speak to the referee and the game was delayed several minutes.
“I never discuss these decisions. But he screamed before I hit the ball,” Gauff told Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; those are the rules.”
She easily won her first two singles matches losing a total of just five games. But her first Olympic singles tournament – she still participates in women’s doubles and mixed doubles – ended with a performance that was hardly her best on the hottest day of the Summer Games so far, with the heat rising above 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).
“These spots are big deals. They usually apologize later. So it’s kind of frustrating. ‘Sorry’ doesn’t help when the game is over,” Gauff said. “I can’t say I would have won the match if I had won that point.”
Even before the problems with the referees’ decisions, Gauff was unable to maintain a good start against Vekic, who was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon this month.
The American led 4-1 and was one point away from advancing 5-1 and serving for the opening set. But she didn’t close the deal and wasted a few set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreak. Vekic advanced until the end of the set and maintained his level in the second.
One measure of Vekic’s superiority this afternoon: she finished with 33 winners to Gauff’s just nine.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that one point affected today’s result,” Gauff acknowledged, “because I was already on the losing side.”
Even so, the most memorable moment of the match was that argument in the second set. Gauff even alluded to Swiatek’s loss while speaking with Campistol and a supervisor who joined the conversation courtside on Tuesday.
“That always happens here at the French Open with me. Always,” Gauff said, holding a tennis ball in one hand and a racket in the other as he pleaded his case. “This is the fourth or fifth time this has happened this year.”
Vekic, who advanced to the quarterfinals, did not get involved, staying at his end of the court and moving the ropes.
“It’s a very complicated situation. Personally, I thought the referee made a good decision because the decision came quite late,” Vekic said when asked later about what happened. “But I’ll have to watch it again. It’s hard to know exactly at the moment.”
When Gauff gave up and returned to the court to resume play, the fans booed loudly – anger directed at the referee.
The first point of the next game went to Gauff, and the spectators cheered wildly for her.
But about 10 minutes later, the match was over.
Gauff was scheduled to return to the court with U.S. teammate Taylor Fritz for a first-round mixed doubles match on Tuesday. She is also competing in women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula at these Olympics.
Over the weekend, Gauff spoke about his goal of coming away with three medals – one from each of his events in Paris. That won’t happen now.
“I want,” Gauff said Tuesday, “to come home with something.”
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