French Open: Shocked Coco Gauff Reduced to Tears as Chair Umpire Sides With Iga Swiatek Over Controversial Call

Tears melted the enthusiastic vibe at Roland Garros. The local fans found it hard to hold back to their seats as Iga Swiatek fiercely dominated Coco Gauff for the 11th time in their relatively short careers so far. In the semi-final showdown, the 12th match between the rivals, the young American seemed to be struggling, with the scoreboard in favor of the Pole – 6-2, 1-2 – when controversy erupted.

Iga Swiatek managed to take control right from the start of the match. As she continued to solidify her lead with almost every point, Gauff couldn’t help but sweat on the red dirt. But the situation got even more intense in the second set. The 20-year-old was left with tear-filled eyes when she was denied a call, one that many feel should’ve been in her favor.

One of Swiatek’s serves in the fourth game of the second set was called out just as Coco Gauff made contact with the ball. The return hit the net, but simultaneously, the chair umpire, Aurelie Tourte, overruled the out call. Per tennis rules, if a call has potentially affected a player’s stroke (the service return, in this case), it should ideally result in the point being replayed. The thing is, Tourte didn’t feel either the linesperson or her call affected Gauff’s stroke and, thus, awarded the point to Swiatek. As a result, the 20-year-old stepped towards the official with an urge to reconsider the situation.

“I didn’t even finish my follow through. He called it before I hit it. Can you ask him?” Gauff asked, hoping for the decision to be made in her favor. Unlucky for her, the chair umpire denied a space to reconfirm, responding, “We cannot ask him.” The 2023 US Open champion appeared to be receiving firm backing from the local crowd, who started booing while listening to the conversation. “They’re booing because you’re wrong… I have the right to finish my swing,” she said to the chair umpire. However, Tourte didn’t budge, and Gauff was not happy.

Brought to tears at the unfairness of it all, Coco Gauff added, “You should be ashamed. Know the rules of the game. This is the second time this has happened. It’s a Grand Slam semifinal.” Gauff’s “second time” reference could’ve been about what went down during her match against Karolina Pliskova at the Dubai Championships in February this year. And, well, the situation was similar to what happened at Roland Garros, but this time, too, the call wasn’t in Gauff’s favor.

When she was leading 4-2 in the second set after losing the first, the 20-year-old made a first serve that was called a fault by the umpire. Pliskova returned it, but it hit the net. Gauff challenged the call, and Hawkeye showed it was in, and she believed the call was made after Pliskova had already hit the return. In that case, the point should’ve been the American’s, but the umpire called for a replay. After a lengthy debate and a few tears, the umpire didn’t change his call.

Coming back to the French Open semifinals. Ultimately, the World No. 1 and the No. 3 found themselves at an all too familiar juncture – Iga Swiatek advancing to the next round, Coco Gauff taking the flight back home. Even after sparring to get things sorted with the official, Gauff had to submit. While fans online sympathized with her, iterating that Gauff only argued a point when she was right, even a WTA legend had compassion to offer.

Chris Evert empathizes with Coco Gauff’s emotions

It was quite normal for every American fan to experience a sense of emotion as Coco Gauff shed tears. Chris Evert, who has established her image as a keen admirer of the US Open champion’s journey, used her commentator gig to relate to Gauff’s situation, expressing sadness after seeing her cry.

“She is crying. That is awful, awful officiating, the umpire’s decision. She is saying that she had a play on it,” the former pro said, disapproving of the chair umpire’s strict call against Coco Gauff. Backing the 20-year-old with a firm belief, the Eurosport commentator added, “She is right, by the way. Coco Gauff is right, absolutely. She would never, ever tell a lie to the umpire.”

The recent incident in Gauff’s match against Iga Swiatek attracted multiple approaches from fans as well as tennis bigwigs. While the young American finds herself leaving the grounds of Roland Garros, it is crucial for her to indulge in discussions with her team and come up with a way to challenge her rival!