Coco Gauff has hinted at the possibility of having discussions regarding her reaction to her elimination from the Australian Open. The third seed endured a tough 6-1 6-2 loss to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals, lasting only 59 minutes, and sought a private area off-court to release her frustrations.
Gauff’s outburst where she smashed her racket was caught on camera, prompting the two-time Grand Slam champion to question the increasing invasion of players’ privacy during major tournaments.
The video of Gauff aggressively hitting her racket against the ground quickly spread online and was broadcast on television almost instantly. When asked about the incident, the 21-year-old confessed, “Yeah, I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras.”
“I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in the final of the US Open. I feel like they don’t need to be broadcast,” Gauff added.
Gauff intended to express her emotions in private, unaware of the omnipresence of cameras. She expressed hope that such incidents will not be exposed in the future, as reported by the Express.
“I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t usually like breaking rackets, but I lost 1 and 2. I broke a racket in the quarterfinals, I think, or the round of 16 of the French Open, I think. I said I would never do it again on court because I don’t believe that’s a good representation,” Gauff explained.
“Maybe some conversations can be had because I feel like at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker room,” she added.
Despite the attention drawn by the footage of Gauff damaging her racket, it gave the No. 3 seed a chance to release her frustrations before rejoining her team.
When asked if this helped her move on from the defeat, Gauff replied, “Yeah, definitely. I think for me, I know myself, and I don’t want to lash out at my team. They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional.”
“So, yeah, I just took the minute to go and do that. Yeah, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Like I said, I don’t try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that, but I do know I need to let out that emotion. Otherwise, I’m just going to be snappy with the people around me, and I don’t want to do that because, like I said, they don’t deserve it. They did their best. I did mine. Just need to let the frustration out.”
Known for her resilience in tough situations, Gauff struggled to recover after Svitolina took an early lead and failed to elevate her performance.
“I mean, like, mid-second set, I feel like sometimes you lose a set 6-1, and it’s like, Okay, whatever, reset,” she elaborated.
“Then 3-0, I was glad to get that game. I don’t know. I just felt like all the things I do well, I just wasn’t doing well today. The backhand wasn’t firing. Forehand wasn’t really firing. Returns. There was just a lot that didn’t go well today.”
“I credit it to her because she forced me to play like that. It’s not like I just woke up and, yeah, today was a bad day, but bad days are often caused by your opponent. So she did well. Yeah, usually I’m able to kind of scrap out at least to make the scoreline tighter, and then you never know, nerves can come up on her, something like that. Today I just wasn’t able to do that.”