Coco Gauff Smashed Racket 7 times After Loss At Australian Open

Coco Gauff took her quarterfinal loss on the Australian Open arduous, breaking down in tears as she walked off the courtroom.

Gauff had hopes so as to add one other Grand Slam title to her record as she entered the match. However, her time at Melbourne Park got here to an finish following a heartbreaking loss to Elina Svitolina, 1-6, 2-6. The swift defeat left Gauff in misery as she left the courtroom, taking her frustrations out on her racket.

According to NBC News, Gauff smashed her racket a whopping seven instances, together with six for each dropped serve she had within the Jan. 27 match. As the No. 3 seed, Gauff had excessive hopes to greatest Svitolina, ranked twelfth as she entered the competitors.

However, Svitolina dominated the match as Gauff struggled to catch a stride together with her serve. Alongside Gauff’s 5 double-faults within the first set, Svitolina took the victory in just below an hour. Frustrated by her lackluster efficiency, Gauff tried to let off steam away from the cameras. The 21-year-old even famous that the intimate second was taken away from her due to the shortage of privateness within the area.

“Certain moments — the identical factor occurred to Aryna (Sabalenka) after I performed her within the remaining of the U.S. Open — I really feel like they don’t have to broadcast,” Gauff mentioned in her post-match information convention. “I attempted to go someplace the place I believed there wasn’t a digital camera as a result of I don’t essentially like breaking rackets.”

Gauff additionally talked about how breaking rackets just isn’t an rare prevalence, having performed so earlier than on the French Open. Despite this, she tries not make a behavior out of doing so. She additionally acknowledged that it may seem as a bout of poor sportsmanship.

“I broke one racket (on the) French Open, I feel, and I mentioned I might by no means do it once more on courtroom as a result of I don’t really feel like that’s a great illustration. So, yeah, perhaps some conversations will be had.”

However, she nonetheless considers it a greater approach to cope with the heartbreak than to lash out at her staff. She finds the bodily launch therapeutic, particularly as she leaves herself all on the courtroom.

“I don’t assume it’s a foul factor. Like I mentioned, I don’t attempt to do it on courtroom in entrance of children and issues like that, however I do know I have to let loose that emotion.”

Although Gauff’s run on the 2026 Australian Open has ended, the rising tennis star nonetheless has loads of time in her already-successful profession to go for an additional title.

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