Gauff was left in tears after feeling that chair umpire Aurelie Tourte made a wrong call against her in the French Open semifinal versus Iga Swiatek.
Coco Gauff says it is “almost ridiculous” not to have video assistant technology (VAR) after getting into an argument with chair umpire Aurelie Tourte during her French Open semifinal match versus Iga Swiatek as the American suggests tennis should be leaning toward introducing things that can make it easier for everyone.
Down by a set to Swiatek in the French Open semifinal, Gauff was left in tears midway through the fourth game of the second set after she was left feeling that an unfair call was made against her.
On Swiatek’s serve early in the second set, one of the Pole’s service was called out but it was a late call. And after Gauff returned it and her ball went wide, chair umpire Tourte decided to award the point to Swiatek.
Gauff couldn’t believe the call as she instantly started arguing that she hit the ball only after hearing Swiatek’s service being called out and that there was no way the point should have been automatically awarded to the Pole. During an argument, Gauff told Tourte in the face that she should be “ashamed” of the call she made.
“You should be ashamed and know the rules of the game. This is the second time this has happened. It’s a Grand Slam semifinal,” Gauff said.
After Tourte argued that the line umpire called out before Gauff returned the ball, the American was adamant that it wasn’t true and wanted the line umpire to be asked about it.
“No he did not. He called it and then I hit it. I’m 1,000 percent sure. If he called it before I hit it, I stop my reaction. I didn’t even finish my follow-through. He called it before I hit it. Will you ask him?” Gauff said.
But to Gauff’s disappointment, Tourte said she couldn’t ask the line umpire in question. As the crowd started booing, Gauff told Tourte they were “booing because you are wrong.”
After the incident, Gauff returned to the baseline with tears in her eyes.
What Gauff said about the incident in her post-match press conference?
After an argument with Tourte, Gauff still went on to break Swiatek in that game for her first break of the match and to open a 3-1 second-set lead. But unfortunately for Gauff, she didn’t manage to hold on to her break as Swiatek responded with back-to-back breaks and won the next four games to go 5-3 in the second set after winning the opener with a 6-2 scoreline.
And after Swiatek went on to complete a 6-2 6-4 win over Gauff, the American was asked about the Tourte incident. Addressing it, Gauff said there should be a video review for such situations because one wrong call in a key moment can change so much.
“Tennis is the only sport where not only we don’t have the VR system, but a lot of times the decisions are made by one person,” Gauff said.
“In other sports there’s usually multiple refs in making a decision. It’s almost ridiculous that we don’t have it. Not also just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it. There are so many decisions that are made, and it sucks as a player to go back or online and you see that you were completely right.
“As a sport we have to evolve, and we have the technology. They’re showing it on TV, so I don’t get why the player can’t see it.”
Gauff remains confident about her path despite another Swiatek loss
Following her latest loss to Swiatek, Gauff has one win over the Pole and 11 losses. Since beating Swiatek in Cincinnati last summer, Gauff has lost their last four meetings.
While Gauff is widely regarded as one of the top players in the world, it is a fact that Swiatek has been extremely tough challenge for her to overcome. However, the 20-year-old American remains positive about her path.
“I can’t sit here and say it’s something I’m not going to want to turn around. I have to be positive and believe in myself. Today I felt very confident going into the match. I know that there are things that I can improve to make this a closer scoreline,” Gauff said.
“Like, first-serve percentage was pretty low, I think. From Rome to this week I improved a lot on my serve. Even though it’s not where I want it to be, but going from, like, 15 double faults to maybe three or four today, I don’t know, it’s a big improvement.
“I don’t feel like my game is all the way developed yet. I feel like when I… reach my peak, then I can maybe answer the question, but I don’t think I’m there yet.”
Gauff will now turn her focus to the grass season, which she is scheduled to kick off in Berlin, which starts on June 17th.
I agree with Gauff, she has very strong principles and was brought by her parents the right way. We have many times when bad calls decide a match, are these match officials incompetent or downright corrupt, their actions can destroy a players career, these match officials should be investigated for match fixing.