Summer Olympics 2024 tennis second seed Coco Gauff had a tearful row with the chair umpire on her way to a surprise third-round exit against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Watched by legendary rapper Snoop Dogg, who was wearing a t-shirt bearing her face, Gauff was a set behind and trailing in the second when a line judge called a Vekic serve return out, only for chair umpire Jaume Campistol to declare the ball in at the expense of a break against the American.
“I never argue these calls but he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff told Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself.”
Snoop Dogg gave USA tennis player Coco Gauff a Snoop Dogg Olympic pin 🫂🤩 pic.twitter.com/t1EGf3KR4O
— The Beat Boulevard (@thebeatblvd) July 30, 2024
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Olympics: Coco Gauff out of singles
Spaniard Campistol could be heard telling the 20-year-old that he had to “take a decision at this stage” and was “100 per cent certain”.
Gauff responded by telling the official that he had informed her that he “might be wrong”. “Based on your reaction, I might be wrong,” Campistol replied. “I have to take a decision.”
The Olympics debutant had already endured a frustrating match, having been a point from breaking world number 21 Vekic for a 5-1 lead in the first set.
Vekic saved two set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tie break and won four games in a row – two after Gauff’s argument – to progress.
Coco Gauff’s got the @SnoopDogg #Olympics pin 🤩#Paris2024 | #tennis pic.twitter.com/W6zRDFoeae
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 29, 2024
Gauff umpire: ‘We have to be careful’
Speaking in 2018 to the French Open website, former ball boy and line judge Campistol said the chair umpire’s position can be a difficult vantage point because “we don’t see the full movement from the players”.
“You must have strong communication skills to relate to the players,” observed Campistol, who was once called “so bad” and a “small cat” by Daniil Medvedev.
“We can’t forget that the players are competing for a lot of points, money and pride. We have to be careful how we address our messages to them.”
Elsewhere at the Olympics, America’s Taylor Fritz came from a set behind to beat Britain’s Jack Draper in the second round of the men’s draw.
In the third round of the women’s draw, Team USA’s Danielle Collins beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio and 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, was surprisingly beaten in straight sets by German world number 212 Angelique Kerber.
