Coco Gauff was unhappy that video of her smashing her racket was broadcast to viewers worldwide after her defeat to Elina Svitolina in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Gauff was visibly upset with her performance on Tuesday: she committed 26 unforced errors – including five double-faults in the first set – and lost the match 6-1, 6-2 in just 59 minutes.
The American thought she had found a private place in the tunnel that connects Rod Laver Arena to the stadium to vent her frustrations but a camera caught her hitting her racket repeatedly against the floor. Video of the incident soon flooded social media.
“I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras,” Gauff told reporters. “I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in final of the US Open – I feel like they don’t need to broadcast.”
Sabalenka, who will take on Svitolina in the semi-finals, smashed her racket in a training area after losing to Gauff in the 2023 US Open final, and video of that incident was also made public.
“I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did. Maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room,” Gauff added.
The 21-year-old said she prefers to take out her frustration on her equipment rather than her team.
“I think for me, I know myself, and I don’t want to lash out on my team. They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional,” Gauff said. “I just took the minute to go and do that. 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.”
Although Gauff and her compatriot, Iva Jović, lost their quarter-finals, the US is guaranteed a semi-finalist at this year’s tournament. Two Americans, Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula, face each other in Wednesday morning’s quarter-final in Melbourne. Jović was easily beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Sabalenka, who has reached the semi-finals in 12 of her last 13 majors.
