It can’t get worse for Coco Gauff at the moment. After a controversial defeat in the singles competition at the Paris Olympic Games, her campaign in women’s doubles ended in a heartbreaking fashion as well. The American sensation and her partner, Jessica Pegula, lost the match in the tiebreaker to bow out of the doubles. With Gauff’s medal hopes dwindling, her fans turned up against Pegula and even called for an end to their partnership.

Gauff has been playing with her compatriot, Pegula, for long. They won several tournaments together, although a Grand Slam title eluded her. While many had expected the pair to dig deep in the Olympics, they suffered a shocking loss at the hands of Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. With this, the blame game started among the fanbase of both players and Pegula had to bear most of the brunt for it.

What made matters worse was the fact that Coco Gauff was coming on the back of her singles defeat against Donna Vekic. The 20-year-old controversially lost her third-round encounter yesterday after a line call went against her favor. Subsequently, she argued with the chair umpire and broke down in tears after the decision went against her. All this culminated in Pegula being blamed by Gauff’s fans for their defeat today.

Fans demand an end to the partnership of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula

Interestingly, Coco Gauff reached the world number 1 ranking in doubles with partner Pegula a couple of years ago. However, with Pegula’s injuries this season, the pair have had an on-and-off partnership. Nonetheless, they combined for the Olympics but had their campaign cut short. As a result, many fans on social media urged them to look for different partners. One of the fans said, “Except it’s a mutual drag for everyone in the fanbase, we all agree it’s time for Pegauff to hang it up.”

Meanwhile, a Gauff fan was worried that the 20-year-old would leave the games without a medal. She only has one chance of winning a medal left now and it is in mixed doubles, where she has teamed up with Taylor Fritz. As a result, the fan wrote, “This why she shouldn’t have flopped in singles, here she is about to leave Tokyo without a medal… because we damn sure knew you and Peggy wasn’t doing s**t.”

Similarly, one fan hoped that it was the last time they’d seen Coco Gauff and Pegula in action together in doubles, as the X user wrote, “Anyway goodbye Pegauff, hope that was the last match they have together.” As frustration grew among the fans, they urged Gauff to look for partners elsewhere. At the French Open this year, she teamed up with Katerina Siniakova while Pegula was injured and won the title. Thus, one fan remarked, “I wouldn’t hate if that’s the last we see of the Coco/Pegula partnership. Coco’s only chance at a medal of any kind now is with Fritz in the mixed.”

With hopes dwindling, Gauff will have her task cut out as she plays her mixed doubles encounter later today. Can she win a medal for her country in Paris? Let us know your views in the comments below.