Uncommon Knowledge
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American women’s tennis superstar Coco Gauff’s first meaningful quest for an Olympic gold medal in a singles event has stopped short far earlier than the 20-year-old probably expected.
Gauff, the world No. 2 and the tournament’s No. 2 seed, was ousted by No. 13-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday, during their third-round meeting in Roland Garros, home to the French Open.
A Vekic return on a Gauff serve with the latter leading 3-2 in the second set hit the baseline on Gauff’s side. The ball was ruled out by a line judge and Gauff did not try to respond to the return, but chair umpire Jaume Campistol gave Vekic the point, asserting that the ball landed within the line and was actually playable.
A visibly upset Gauff, already trailing by a set, confronted Campistol and discussed the call for several minutes.
“I never argue these calls. But he [the line judge] called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff could be heard telling Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”
According to Howard Fendrich of The Associated Press, the 2023 U.S. Open champion called out the referee after the match, noting that it feels like a pattern this year.
“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.
The burgeoning tennis superstar also took a moment to advocate for the sport to start implementing video reviews, as many other contemporary sports leagues do.
“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed,” Gauff added. “I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
To be fair, the match seemed to be slipping away from Gauff prior to the controversial decision. During the opening set, she had gotten off to an enticing 4-1 advantage early but collapsed when Vekic went on a 5-0 rally to close her out and claim the set.
“I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today… because I was already on the losing side of things,” Gauff noted.
Gauff is still very much alive on the doubles side of the Olympic bracket. She is competing for a gold medal in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles, and even with this setback has a very realistic shot of adding some more hardware to her shelf when all is said and done.
Read More: How to Watch Women’s Tennis at the 2024 Paris Olympics: Streams, Schedule
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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