Coco Gauff smashes her racquet moments after leaving the courtroom as world No3 loses Australian Open quarter-final towards Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina in simply 59 MINUTES
Coco Gauff channeled her fury after losing her Australian Open quarter-final into repeatedly smashing her racquet in the tunnel just moments after stepping off court on Rod Laver Arena.
The world No 3 came into the contest Down Under as the higher-ranked favourite but was blown out of the water by Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina.
In a contest lasting just 59 minutes, the American No 1 was torn apart in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, with Gauff’s tensions bubbling over after making her muted exit from Melbourne’s biggest show court.
Trailed by cameras, the 20-year-old had to wait for the peace of the dressing room, with footage of her brief meltdown beamed around the world.
Jamie Murray was among those sympathetic to the former US Open champion’s actions, saying on TNT Sports: ‘A very disappointing performance from Coco. Rightfully took it out on the racket at the end of that.’
‘Not that we advocate this,’ co-pundit and former British No 1 Laura Robson added. ‘Do you think that she could have chucked the racket on the court to release some tension?’
Coco Gauff vent her spleen as she repeatedly smashed her racquet after losing to Elina Svitolina on Tuesday
‘It could sort of kick start you into action,’ Tim Henman argued. ‘I think that she was playing so badly and this result hasn’t come overnight and we know that she’s been struggling.
‘There’s so much focus and attention. And I think we all sympathise with Coco because she is such a great competitor.
‘To get through to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam and have a match like this – that must do damage mentally and there has to be some scar tissue and you can’t just sort of say: “Oh, we’ll forget about that and we’ll move on…”
‘She hit three winners and 26 unforced errors in the match and that is impossible to compete at any level. It was hardly surprising to see her frustrating at the end…’
