French Open 2024: Crying Coco Gauff Garners Tennis Fans’ Sympathy as Chair Umpire Brutally Slammed in Collateral Damage
Coco Gauff‘s had enough of umpires calling the shots! Even after reaching the semi-final round of the French Open, there was a moment in between the match, when an umpire controversy reduced her to tears, while she was trying to give her best against the world number one, Iga Swiatek. Despite handling the situation, tennis fans stepped forward to offer consolation during the ordeal.
Everything started when the 20-year-old challenged an umpire’s call during her match against Swiatek. The umpire overruled the former world number one’s serve, even though it was called out. She claimed that she hit the ball after the line call was made, but she missed the return. She objected, confronting the umpire, “I didn’t even finish my follow-through. He called it before I hit it. Can you ask him?”
The umpire responded, “We cannot ask him.” Consequently, the American continued, “They’re booing because you’re wrong… I have the right to finish my swing.” The umpire insisted, “To me, it didn’t affect the shot.” But at the same time, she was about to burst out and emphasized her views clearly, “This is the 2nd time this has happened. It’s a Grand Slam Semifinal. Know the rules of the game.”
After a slow start and an argument with the chair umpire, earlier this year the US Open champion rallied to overcome Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the Dubai Championships quarterfinals. The 20-year-old American had a 4-2 lead in the second set of the match before getting into a heated argument with chair umpire Pierre Bacchi.
However, she complained to Bacchi, saying Pliskova had returned her serve into the net before he had ruled it out. While the argument fueled her, this time, she received support from her fans as she came up on social media to support the 20-year-old on her recent French Open agreement with the umpire.
