Coco Gauff has just suffered a shock round-of-16 exit at the Paris Olympics after blowing an early lead but also a very controversial situation that saw the second-seeded American burst into tears.
Just moments ago, world No. 21 and recent Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic upset Gauff 7-6 (7) 6-2 to reach the Paris Olympics quarterfinal where she will play against either Maria Sakkari or Marta Kostyuk.
Early in the match, Gauff had a 5-2 lead and missed out on three set points and a chance to serve out for the first set. Then, Gauff was also up by a break in the second set but then lost her lead after a very messy situation.
With Gauff facing a break point in the sixth game of the second set, Vekic’s ball was called out – Gauff returned that same ball and it landed in the net. But after checking the mark, the call on Vekic’s shot was overturned and called in. But instead of replaying the point, chair umpire Campistol awarded the point to Vekic – which instantly handed the Croatian a break and a 4-2 second-set lead.
Gauff wasn’t happy about the call at all as she was 100 percent sure that she hit the ball after hearing Vekic’s ball was called out. But the chair umpire stood by his call – and since the 20-year-old American felt incredibly wronged – started…
