Fans are rallying behind tennis star Coco Gauff following her controversial Olympic defeat.
Coco, who was chosen as this year’s female Olympic flag bearer for Team USA, exited the women’s singles on Tuesday after a 6–7, 2–6 defeat to Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Coco was trailing 3–2 in the second set when her opponent, Donna, hit a service return that the line judge called out. As a result, Coco didn’t play the ball. However, chair umpire Jaume Campistol ruled the ball in and gave Donna the break point.
Coco argued her case with the umpire for around five minutes, breaking down into tears at one point. A video of the exchange shows the athlete telling Jaume, “I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball.”
“It always happens to me on this court,” she added.
After the match, Coco — who has defended herself on the court numerous times — told the Associated Press, “There’s been multiple times this year where that’s happened to me, where I felt like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court.”
“I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game,” she said, adding, “It happens to me; it happened to Serena [Williams].”
“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don't think the ref disagreed,” she added. “I think he just thought it didn't affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
Coco later explained that her dispute with the umpire didn’t change the match's result. She said, “Donna played well. She’s been playing well throughout Wimbledon 'till now, so I knew it would be a tough match. I think I had a lot of chances in the first, and I felt like if I could clinch that set, it might have helped me with the momentum of the second.”
“I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today because I was already on the losing side of things,” she said.
Fans are now flooding Coco with supportive messages and defending her against people who accused her of throwing a “temper tantrum” on the court.
One person wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Coco Gauff is 100% correct that she has to advocate for herself on the court all the time. They give unfair calls during the game and then apologize after the fact. I’m so proud to see her standing up for herself!”
Someone else added, “Heartbreaking that Coco Gauff has to defend herself like this. She deserves so much better.”
“If I was her I would be arguing and upset too if a judgement call is wrong. Don’t bash her for defending herself and standing up for what she believes,” another person wrote.