Coco Gauff’s chances of competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics are over.
The American tennis star lost in the mixed doubles quarterfinals with partner Taylor Fritz on Wednesday night to Canadian pair Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dombrowskis 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-8.
It was a disappointing end to the Summer Olympics for Gauff, who was the flag bearer at last week’s opening ceremony and was hoping to return home to the United States with a newly won medal.
But things didn’t go that way after Gauff’s singles tournament loss on Tuesday.
Wednesday was a particularly tough day for the 20-year-old Furst, who lost in the women’s doubles with partner Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 to Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova.
Gauff remained confident that if she plays as well as she did against Pegula, she and Fritz will be in good position to beat the Canadian in mixed doubles.
2024 Paris Olympics
“If we play like we did today, [with Pegula]”, “I’m not sure what to do,” Gauff said, according to ESPN.“We have a good chance.”
But that never happened.
Gauff was eliminated from the singles tournament on Tuesday after a highly publicized altercation with the chair umpire during her third-round match against Donna Vekic.
Gauff’s frustration was so intense she was in tears.
“There have been so many times this year where I’ve felt like I’ve had to constantly assert myself on the court,” Gauff told reporters after the match.
“I felt like the umpire called it before I hit it and I don’t think the umpire disagreed with it,” she added. “I think the umpire just thought it wouldn’t affect my swing, but I felt like it did.”
This year will be Gauff’s Olympic debut after she was forced to withdraw from the Games in 2021 after testing positive for COVID-19.
The American won her first Grand Slam title when she won the U.S. Open women’s singles title in September and also added the French Open doubles title earlier this year.
