Tennis Star Coco Gauff Tearfully Argues w/ Olympic Chair Umpire Over Ruling During Third-Round Defeat

Coco Gauff

Tennis Star Coco Gauff Tearfully Argues w/ Olympic Chair Umpire Over Ruling During Third-Round Defeat

Star tennis player Coco Guaff felt she was slighted during her recent match at the Olympics.

The 20-year-old tearfully addressed an umpire who she felt made an egregious call and suggested she had similar issues at that specific court before.

Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff’s third-round matchup against Croatia’s Donna Vevik at the Paris games earlier today (Tuesday, July 30th) was riddled with frustration for the young athlete and ended in an upset. During a heated moment from the round, the Florida native became overrun with emotions as she attempted to argue with the umpire, alleging he called her opponent’s ball out before she had the chance to return it. Seeing the ref clearly wasn’t budging, Gauff reached her emotional edge and shed tears stating:

“This always happens to me on this court.”

She reportedly added later:

“I always have to advocate for myself…This isn’t fair.” 

Many reports state that after reviewing the call, it appears Gauff was correct and the ball was in. The ref even remarked to Gauff during their confrontation that he may have been wrong about his call, but insisted that the ruling had to stand. While it doesn’t appear that any officials from the games have yet to comment publicly on the matter, one report notes that Guaff, as she mentioned, recently dealt with this very same issue at this very same court.

Just last month, the 2023 U.S. Open champion lost an argument with a ref during the French Open, which also utilizes the Court Philippe Chatrier. Gauff similarly accused the umpire of making a bad call but was ultimately derailed and ended up losing the match to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. She stated about the situation at the time:

“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,”

She added:

“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed…I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”

Reacting to her loss, many social media users shared their support for Gauff and left her encouraging words. Others condemned the apparent unfairness Gauff continues to face as a minority athlete, while some debated whether or not the umpire ultimately made the right call.

Though Gauff’s singles run this year has ended, she’ll also be competing in women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula later in the games.

Thoughts? Leave them for us in the comments below!

[VIA]