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Coco Gauff has insisted she won’t blame the umpire after crashing out of the Olympics on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old, who is the defending US Open champion, went into her clash with Donna Vekic expected to blow her opponent away.
Yet that didn’t happen, with Gauff reduced to tears as she exited the competition in the third round.
Her meltdown happened after the youngster became embroiled in a row with chair umpire Jaume Campistol.
Coco Gauff was reduced to tears as she crashed out of the Olympics on Tuesday
REUTERS
Gauff hit a serve and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline, with a line judge calling the shot out.
Campistol then intervened, saying he thought Vekic’s shot landed in, with the Croatian given a service break and a 4-2 lead in the process.
Gauff told the umpire: “I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball.
“It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself.”
She also said: “It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time.
“This is like the fourth, fifth time it’s happened this year.”
Gauff was asked about the incident after her defeat.
But the 20-year-old insisted she wouldn’t blame the row with Campistol for the disappointing result, saying: “I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today, I was already on the losing side of things.
“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed.
“I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
Gauff continued: “These points are big deals. Usually afterwards, they apologise. So it’s kind of frustrating.
“The ‘sorry’ doesn’t help you once the match is over. I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point.”
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Coco Gauff rowed with the umpire as she lost to Donna Vekic at the Olympics on Tuesday
REUTERS
As for Vekic, the Croatian believes Campistol’s decision was the right one.
However, she didn’t seem too keen to get involved in the row.
“It’s a very tricky situation. I personally thought the umpire made a good decision, because the call came quite late,” she said.
“But I’ll have to rewatch it. It’s tough to know exactly in the moment.”
Coco Gauff can still win gold at the Olympics with the tennis star set to play in the mixed doubles later on Tuesday
PA
Gauff’s hopes of Olympic gold aren’t completely dead and buried, however.
The tennis star will play alongside Taylor Fritz in the mixed doubles today, with the pair set to lock horns with Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Nadia Podoroska.
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