Coco Gauff was left in tears after getting into an extended argument with the chair umpire over a ruling during the reigning U.S. Open champion's 7-6 (7), 6-2 loss to Donna Vekic of Croatia in a Paris Olympics third-round singles match Tuesday.
Gauff, a 20-year-old American, already was trailing by a lot when the episode happened two games from the end of the match.
Gauff hit a serve and Vekic's return landed near the baseline. Vekic's shot out was initially called out; Gauff did not keep the ball in play. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought Vekic's shot landed in and awarded her the point, giving her a service break and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff walked over to talk to the official and play was delayed for several minutes.
"I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball," Gauff said to Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it's the rules. I always have to advocate for myself.”
Gauff, a 20-year-old from Florida, was seeded second in Paris and easily won her first two singles matches, dropping a total of just five games.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
But her first Olympic singles tournament — she is still in women's doubles and mixed doubles — ended with a performance that was hardly her best on the hottest day of the Summer Games so far, with the heat rising above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
Even before the trouble over the umpiring decision, Gauff could not sustain a good start against Vekic, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon this month.
The American led 4-1 and was a point from moving ahead 5-1 and serving for the opening set. But she couldn’t close the deal, then wasted a couple of set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Vekic surged to the end of that set, then maintained her level in the second.
One measure of Vekic’s superiority on this afternoon: She finished with 33 winners to just nine for Gauff.
But the most memorable portion of the match was the second-set dispute.
It's not the first time Gauff has been upset by a call she thought was incorrect — not even the first time in Court Philippe Chatrier, the main stadium used for the annual French Open Grand Slam tournament that was also the site Tuesday.
During her loss to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the French Open semifinals last month, a similar thing happened to Gauff. She argued. She also got nowhere with the chair umpire. After that match, Gauff called it “almost ridiculous” that tennis does not employ video replay technology at all events, the way many other sports do.
She alluded to that Swiatek match while talking to Campistol and a supervisor who joined the conversation on the court Tuesday.
“It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time,” Gauff said, holding a tennis ball in one hand and her racket in the other while pleading her case. “This is like the fourth, five time it's happened this year.”
Vekic did not get involved, staying at her end of the court and fiddling with her strings.
When Gauff gave up and headed back on court to resume play, fans booed loudly — anger directed at the official.
The first point of the next game went Gauff's way, and spectators cheered wildly for her.
But about 10 minutes later, the match was over.
