Tennis courts are serving up yet another twist! The WTA Finals are back with full force, and while fans expected drama, the intensity is off the charts. This time, Coco Gauff finds herself in the spotlight, but not in the way she’d hoped. After a tough loss in her latest match, fans are coming down hard, unleashing a wave of criticism that’s turning up the heat. It’s a rough patch for Gauff—and the tension on the court is only getting fiercer!

The American tennis sensation took on Barbora Krejcikova in her third match at the WTA Finals. Despite being on a remarkable run in the tournament, Gauff faced a baffling defeat in straight sets against the Czech star 7-5, 6-4. This did not just end her winning streak in the tournament but also brought an end to the campaign of Iga Swiatek in the tournament. Meanwhile, fans cannot just believe the outcome of the match. 

Several enthusiasts took to their X account and highlighted the poor performance that Gauff depicted throughout the match. Remember, Krejcikova is placed quite below Gauff in the ranking table and is the 8th-seeded player in the tournament. Despite this. Gauff could not convert her dominant form into a third consecutive victory and this is not suiting well with the fans.

Lashing out at the player, several users claimed that the poor performance was deliberate by Coco Gauff. They also shared that she wanted to get rid of Iga Swiatek in the tournament and accused her of not giving her best. 

Coco Gauff in hot waters after losing to Barbora Krejcikova

Taking to X, one user wrote, “Nah, Coco Gauff? Come on man, what is this now?” The American star player has been on a sensational form lately, especially on the hard courts. She won 11 of her 12 matches on the hard courts before her match against Krejcikova. Hence, losing in straight sets was something that was not anticipated from the player, which drew her immense criticism. 

Responding to Gauff’s performance, another user wrote, “I think I’m just wasting my energy cheering for Coco Gauff. I don’t want to think about the fact that she’ll purposely lose this match to get rid of Iga. It’s not the warrior’s way if this is the case. I’m disappointed sports have to come like this.” For the unversed, Swiatek was dependent on Gauff for her qualification to the semi-finals. 

After Jessica Pegula decided to withdraw from the tournament following a knee injury, Swiatek was forced to play her third match against Daria Kasatkina, who gained an entry to the tournament. While the Pole won in remarkable fashion and ousted the Russian player in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, winning the match in just 51 minutes, the result of the encounter did not have an impact on the semi-final qualification scenarios for her, per WTA Tennis.com. In such a scenario as this, the equations were simple: If Gauff had won, Swiatek would have qualified for the semi-finals. Meanwhile, more reactions continued to follow.

“Coco Gauff doing a terrible job at hiding the fact she throwing this match. Never seen her “slip” this much,” wrote another user. Gauff and Swiatek have faced each other 14 times on the courts. However, the American player has won only twice against the Pole and has struggled remarkably. Hence, fans suggested that she did not wish to take a risk despite winning against the Pole in her previous match. 

One more user slammed the player similarly and commented, “Find yourself someone that loves you the way Coco Gauff loves losing break points.” While Gauff has managed to bounce back recently, her overall season was not easy either. She won only 2 titles, one at the ASB Classic and the other at the China Open. Besides, she fired 407 double faults in the 66 matches she played on tour this year, which became a major reason behind her defeats. And now, her latest struggle against Krejcikova highlighted yet another factor that Gauff needs to overcome. 

 Yet another user simply criticized the player and wrote, “Coco Gauff looks defeated already. It will take a miracle for her to win.” But despite the defeat, the 2023 US Open champion has managed to qualify for the semi-finals, thanks to her past two victories.  For now, it would be interesting to see if Coco Gauff comes out to respond to these criticisms and highlight her true struggles against the Czech star.