Teary-eyed Coco Gauff slams umpire over line-call in semis vs Iga Swiatek

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 6, 2024 21:20 IST

Coco Gauff was left in tears after the chair umpire made a controversial call during the French Open 2024 semi-final against World No.1 Iga Swiatek. On Thursday, June 6, Gauff made a heartbreaking exit from Roland Garros after losing the match 2-6, 4-6 at Philippe-Chatrier.

In the fourth game of the second set, Swiatek hit a serve that was called out but the umpire overruled it. Gauff missed the return and said that she hit the ball only after the line call was made. However, the umpire refused to agree.

The scenario became intense as boos echoed around the venue at Centre Court. After the umpire did not pay heed to her appeal, Gauff was seen in tears after which she returned to play.

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“I didn’t even finish my follow through. He called it before I hit it. Can you ask him?” Gauff was heard saying.

“We cannot ask him,” replied the umpire.

“They’re booing because you’re wrong... I have the right to finish my swing,” Gauff replied.

The umpire said, “To me it didn’t affect the shot.”

“This is the 2nd time this has happened. It’s a Grand Slam Semi-final. Know the rules of the game,” Gauff said.

As far as the match was concerned, Gauff was far from her very best, although she showed sparks of brilliance against the top-ranked player from Poland. Gauff found herself in all sorts of trouble after she dropped her serve twice in the first set as Swiatek dictated terms.

Gauff made 27 winners, 17 more than Swiatek’s tally of 10. However, that she made 39 unforced errors in the match led to her downfall. Gauff also pulled off 3 aces, but struggled with her second serves by making 4 double faults.

Recently, Gauff became the new World No.2 after Aryna Sabalenka lost to 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in the quarters.