Coco Gauff stopped her Olympics tennis match Tuesday to advocate for herself after an “unfair” call from a line judge that she said felt intentional.
The emotional argument with the chair umpire occurred during Gauff’s third-round singles match against Croatia’s Donna Vekic, who ultimately won in two sets.
During the second set, Vekic hit a ball that landed near the baseline and a line judge ruled it out. As the line judge made their call, Gauff returned the ball into the net. But when Vekic’s shot was actually ruled inbounds, the leading chair umpire, Jaume Campistol, awarded Vekic the point.
“This isn’t fair. He called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff argued to Campistol.
As tears fell down her cheeks, Gauff continued: “I never argue these calls but you called it out before I hit the ball. It always happens to me on this court. It always happens to me at French Opens every time… I always have to advocate for myself every time.”
Later, Campistol responded by saying, “I’m not saying I’m right, but I’m just saying the way I’m seeing it… I know I’m wrong but I cannot change my decision after your appeal.”
A referee came in to mediate the argument as Gauff explained why the call was wrong from her point of view.
“This isn’t fair. I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. I constantly feel like that, and I have to argue,” Gauff said. “And then you guys apologize afterward. You guys say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then what does that do for me in the match? It’s not fair. Why am I on the bottom side of these calls?”
The referee claimed the call was “not intentional” as Gauff responded, “It’s not intentional?’ It happens to me, it happens to Serena … It is.”
During the argument, Gauff appeared to allude to issues she faced in competitions earlier this year. There was one bad call at the Dubai Tennis Championship in February, but also an incident that occurred at the French Open — on the exact same court as her match with Vekic — in June. During that match, a loss to eventual champion Iga Swiatek, Swiatek hit a serve that was called out just as Gauff was returning it. Gauff’s shot landed out, but when Swiatek’s serve was ruled in, she won the point.