PARIS — Top-ranked American tennis player Coco Gauff has been eliminated from the Olympic women’s singles event under controversial circumstances after a 6-7, 2-6 defeat to Croatia’s Donna Vekic on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros.
A high-quality match was overshadowed by a disputed line call at a crucial moment in the second set, prompting Gauff to say, “I feel like I’m getting cheated all the time in this match,” adding that “it happens to me, it happened to Serena (Williams).”
At 2-3, 30-40, Gauff served into Vekic’s forehand, and as Gauff prepared to hit a return that went deep to the baseline, a linesman called the ball out as the American swung for a forehand. Gauff pulled himself up and sent the ball into the net.
The chair umpire then reversed the point because Vekic’s ball had landed in, giving her the break of Gauff’s serve to move ahead, 4-2. That prompted Gauff to appeal, saying the call had prevented her from completing her swing.
Gauff, who served as the flag bearer for Team USA along with LeBron James, said afterward that she “felt like they blew the whistle before I hit it.
“I don’t think the umpire disagreed. I think he just felt it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt it didn’t.
“This year it has happened to me several times that I feel like I always have to stand up for myself on the court. I think we should have a VAR system (Video Assistant Referee) in tennis because these kind of points are big things. Usually they apologize afterwards.
“It’s frustrating when the sorry doesn’t help you when the game is over.”
(Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s not fair at all. You guys are not being fair to me and I hope the game will be fair someday, but it’s not,” Gauff said in a lengthy back-and-forth with the chair umpire and the supervisor.
Play continued with Gauff down a break and she fought back in Vekic’s next service game, but Vekic thwarted several break points and eventually recorded an impressive victory by breaking Gauff again in the final game.
Vekic, who recently reached the semifinals of Wimbledon for her best result at a Grand Slam, played well throughout, controlling points with monster forehands and a deadly drop shot. Down 5-3 in the first set, Vekic broke Gauff at love to turn the match around. She won the first-set tiebreak 9-7 and recovered from an early break in the second set to hold serve.
Gauff, who led in the first set, refused to attribute the loss to the call. “I can’t say I would have won the match if I had won that point. But being down a break… Maybe replaying that point could make a big difference in that match.
“But I’m not going to sit here and say that one point affected the outcome today, because I was already on the losing side before that point happened.”
Gauff’s Olympic campaign continues with Taylor Fritz, who earlier defeated Britain’s Jack Draper in the singles. The pair will play in the mixed doubles later today, fourth on Simonne-Mathieu.
(Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images)
