PARIS (AP) — The scene felt all too familiar to Coco Gauff. An officiating decision she was certain was incorrect. A chair umpire who wouldn't concede. Tears rolling from her eyes. And, most notably, a defeat, this one at the Paris Olympics.
Even the venue was identical: Court Philippe Chatrier is where the reigning U.S. Open champion fell in the third round of the Summer Games to Donna Vekic of Croatia, 7-6 (7), 6-2, on Tuesday. That is the same main stadium used each spring for the French Open, where Gauff became embroiled in an ever-so-similar kerfuffle over a line call during a straight-set loss to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the semifinals a month ago.
"That's been throughout the year, a couple of times that's happened to me — I have to feel like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court," Gauff said afterward, renewing a call for video review to be used in tennis, as it is in many other professional sports. "I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don't think the ref disagreed," she said. "He probably thought it didn't bother my swing, and I felt like it did."
Gauff is one of the big stars on site at the 2024 Paris Games—a 20-year-old from Florida who was the No. 2-seeded woman in the singles draw there, then carried the U.S. flag at opening ceremonies on Friday.
Later Tuesday, Gauff returned to the court with U.S. teammate Taylor Fritz and defeated Nadia Podoroska and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 10-5, in a first-round mixed doubles match. Gauff also is playing women's doubles at the Paris Games with Jessica Pegula.
"At the end of the day, if anything, doubles make you want to go out there more. You don't want to ruin somebody else's chances because you feel like that day wasn't a good day. Taylor and I were talking about it earlier: A medal is a medal. I have two other events I can possibly do that in, so I'm just focused on that."
In singles, it was Vekic who was receiving much of the support from the stands early in the match, with chants of "Don-na! Don-na!" throughout the match. When Vekic began rallying, trailing 4-1, she responded to some of the applause by extending her arms overhead for more — and received it. As Gauff smacked a backhand winner in the next game, she raised a hand, wiggling her fingers to ask the fans in the stands for more noise — and they delivered it, leading Vekic to grin at Gauff.
By that time, the disputed call was two games left in the match and well beside the point Gauff served, and the return by Vekic landed near the baseline. A line judge offered an out call on Vekic's return; Gauff didn't play the ball. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought Vekic's ball was in and he gave her a service break for 4-2. Gauff walked over to talk to the official and play was held up 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."
She won her first two singles matches easily, dropping a total of just five games. However, her first Olympic singles experience ended with a performance far off her best on the hottest day so far of these Summer Games, with the temperature reaching over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
"Those points are crucial points. Normally after they say, 'I'm sorry.' So it's frustrating. 'Sorry' doesn't really help you when the match is done," Gauff said. "I can't say I would have won the match if I would have won that point."
Even before the controversy over the umpiring decision, Gauff couldn't make a good beginning stand up against Vekic, 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 could not shut the deal, then wasted a couple of set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Vekic surged through 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.
"I'm not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today," Gauff said, "because I was already on the losing side of things."
Still, the most memorable moment in the match was that second-set argument. Gauff even alluded to that Swiatek loss 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, fifth time it's happened this year."
Vekic, who advanced to the quarterfinals, did not get involved, staying at her end of the court and fiddling with her strings. "It's a very tricky situation. I personally thought it was a good decision because the call came quite late," Vekic said later of what transpired. "But I will have to rewatch it. It's tough to know in the moment."
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 roared in support. But about 10 minutes after that, the match was over.
Over the weekend, Gauff spoke about wanting to return home with three medals — one for each of her events in Paris. That will not be the case now.
"I want," Gauff said Tuesday, "to come home with something."