Team USA tennis star Coco Gauff claims she was 'cheated' in controversial ouster from 2024 Olympic Games
Coco Gauff lost to Donna Vekic in the third round of the Olympic women’s singles tournament. During a controversial call in the second set, the American star argued that she felt “cheated constantly in this game.”
Vekic won 7-6, 6-2 at France’s famed Roland-Garros.. The momentum swung Vekic’s way early in the second set. Vekic already was up 3-2 in the second and had a break point to go up 4-2. In the middle of a rally, Gauff was about to hit, but the linesman indicated Vekic’s shot was out, then corrected the call. Gauff said she heard the out call, slowed down and hit the ball into the net.
Rather than replaying the point, as Gauff wanted, the chair awarded the point to Vekic, a budding star from Croatia. The umpire told Gauff: “For me, the call didn’t affect your shot.”
But Coco Gauff didn’t leave it there. She argued with the umpire for nearly five minutes. Then she asked for the supervisor.
“You have to understand, he called it out before I hit it,” she told the supervisor. “What’s the rule? It’s not even a millisecond, he called it when I hit the ball. I understand if it was the same time but it was before. It’s not even a perception.”
Gauff lost the point and eventually the set. So the No. 2 woman in the world won’t be moving on in the Olympic singles tournament. However, she still is competing in doubles and mixed doubles.
“I always have to advocate for myself,” a teary-eyed Coco Gauff told the umpire. “It happened to me in July, it happened to me here. This isn’t fair. This isn’t fair. I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. I constantly feel like that and then I have to argue. No because I do and then you guys apologise after.”