By James Myers, OAN Staff
Tuesday, July 30, 2024 9:37 AM
American tennis star Coco Gauff was left in tears after a heated argument with the match umpire during her 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 loss to Croatian Donna Vekic in the third round of a tournament on Tuesday.
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Gauff served hard in the second set before Vekic responded with a shot that landed near the baseline.
The linesman initially called him out before the 20-year-old American returned.
But in a surprising move, chair umpire Jaume Campistor ruled the shot invalid, awarding Vekic the point and extending his lead in the set to 4-2.
“I never challenged those calls, but he called them before I hit the ball,” Gauff told Kampistor. “It’s not even a recognition. It’s a rule. I always have to assert myself.”
The altercation, which took place two games from the end of the match, left Gauff in tears.
Gauff led 4-1 against Vekic in the first set, but the Croatian, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals earlier this year, rallied to beat Vekic in the tiebreak.
Gauff found herself in a similar situation last month when she challenged a call following her loss to Iga Swiatek at the French Open.
“That’s happened a lot this year. I always feel like I have to make my case on the court,” Gauff said after the match, calling for video review to be introduced in tennis, like in many other professional sports.
“I felt like the umpire called it before I hit it and I don’t think the umpire disagreed with it,” she said. “I think the umpire just thought it wouldn’t affect my swing, but I felt like it did.”
Gauff entered the tournament as the second seed in the women’s singles and won her first two matches with ease, dropping just five games combined.
But the American’s Olympic exploits aren’t over yet, as she is scheduled to compete in women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula and mixed doubles with Taylor Fritz.
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