Watch: Gauff has heated exchange with umpire at Olympics

Coco Gauff. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Coco Gauff has heated exchange with umpire at Paris Olympics

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jul 30, 2024 9:37 AM ET

Coco Gauff crashed out of the 2024 Paris Olympics singles draw Tuesday with a 7-6, 6-2 loss to Croatia's Donna Vekic in the third round. The loss was marred by Gauff's heated altercation with the chair umpire in the early stages of the second set, shortly after she lost a tiebreaker in the first set.

Down 3-2 in the second set, Gauff faced a break point when Vekic's ball was called out, causing the American to retreat from her backhand and slow down her shot. Moments later, the line judge reversed the out call, sparking an emotional outburst from Gauff. As seen below, Gauff argued that her service game was hindered since the out call was made before she swung her racket. However, the umpire saw it differently, overruling the call and awarding the point to Vekic.

Huge argument in the Donna Vekic - Coco Gauff match. Umpire called the ball out before Gauff returned the ball and missed it in break point for Vekic. Ball was in. Coco Gauff crying and saying this always happens to me pic.twitter.com/Fv8zreC1hY
— edgeAI (@edgeaiofficial) July 30, 2024

The five-minute argument with the umpire seemed to throw Gauff off her rhythm. She was even spotted crying while saying, "This is not fair. You guys are not fair to me." Gauff would drop the next two games to the Croatian while looking rattled and uninterested in the match.

The Tennis Later posted a complete transcription of the exchange between Gauff and the umpire.

Coco Gauff talking through tears as she's not happy with the umpire in her match at Olympics

Vekic’s ball was called out, but it was in, so the line judge corrected it.

Coco hit that ball into the net.

The umpire says it’s Donna’s point. He believes the 'out' call didn't… pic.twitter.com/VKoCV79bOT
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) July 30, 2024

Gauff was likely also upset after letting go of a 4-1 lead in the first set, allowing Vekic to storm back and force a tiebreaker. It was the first time she dropped a set after breezing through the first two singles matches of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The loss is a huge disappointment for Gauff, who earlier became the youngest American woman to win a singles match at the Olympics since Venus Williams in 2000. During the opening ceremony, Gauff became the first-ever tennis player to serve as a flagbearer for Team USA.

Despite the loss, the 20-year-old Gauff can still win medals in the doubles and mixed doubles events at the Paris Olympics. On Tuesday, Gauff and Taylor Fritz will begin their mixed-doubles campaign against Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez and Nadia Podoroska. Gauff and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, won their opening match against Australia's Daria Saville and Ellen Perez on Saturday.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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