Was Coco Gauff ‘robbed’ by the umpire in her Paris 2024 3rd-round loss to Donna Vekic?
The current World No. 11 was notably upset during her loss in the third round of Olympic Games play on Tuesday. As for why, you’d have to ask the umpire.
The pressure on players in any major tennis tournament is immense, far less those that represent their countries in the Olympic Games. With a four-year wait between tournaments, losses can often be traumatic in nature as dreams come to an end.
Coco Gauff brought to tears by umpire’s decision in loss
On Tuesday afternoon, American tennis sensation Coco Gauff took on Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the third round of play at the Paris Olympics. Favored ahead of the match, Gauff appeared to be solid in the first set although she did lose it 7-6(7). Then came the second and that’s where things went off the rails.
During a breakpoint in the second set, Vekic returned Gauff’s serve, with the shot landing near the baseline. A line judge initially called the shot out of bounds, but it appeared to have been in. Due to the “out” call, Gauff did what most would do which is hit the ball into the net. At that point, the chair umpire, Jaume Campistol, awarded the point to Vekic, explaining that he believed the “out” call should not have had any effect on Gauff’s swing. The 20-year-old became visibly upset as she began to plead with the umpire, so much so in fact that she began to cry while doing so.
“He called it out before I hit it so I went up on the ball,” the reigning U.S. Open champion could be heard telling the umpire 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.” Curiously, the umpire could be heard making an admission to Gauff at one point during the dispute. “I know I’m wrong, but I cannot change my decision after your appeal,” he said. Begging through tears, Gauff continued. “I never argue these calls. You don’t understand, I have to always advocate for myself on this court all the time.”
Eventually, another referee was brought to the court to mediate between Gauff and the umpire with the latter veritably incensed at that point. “This isn’t fair,” she 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.” Following the argument, Vekic went on to take a 4-2 in the set ultimately winning the match, 7-6 (7), 6-2.