American No. 1 Coco Gauff was shocked and battered in a one-sided quarterfinal match against reigning ASB Classic champion Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open on Tuesday. The Ukrainian took just 59 minutes to breeze past the two-time Grand Slam champion and book her place in the semifinals.
Gauff didn’t get the opportunity to settle in the match as Svitolina asserted her dominance from the onset. The Ukrainian was one up against the 21-year-old in all the primary key stats, including winners (12), first-serve win percentage (71%), break points won (6/7), and total points won (57), to win the contest 6-1, 6-2.
Gauff was frustrated with her performance on the day, and it showed later in the back hallway, where cameras captured the defending Roland Garros champion smashing her racket to smithereens. The video went viral on social media, and everyone shared their personal opinions, including former US Open champion Andy Roddick.
“Um, can we, can we also talk about, I mean, I get, you don’t want people doing it all the time. I broke rackets. I shouldn’t have; it’s not a good example. Right. But it’s a slippery slope of like, that’s a bad example for people watching, like it’s sports. Does anyone ever tell the NBA not to say something to the ref?” Roddick said.
“But like, does no one do it? It’s not as if there’s like a moral reckoning, I think she probably has to be, I mean, with how famous she is, what she stands for. I think she is as buttoned up as any 21-year-old. I think I’ve ever seen in this game,” he added.
“I think everyone’s talking about like, Oh, the new, like even the other day we were talking about like Andreeva and Jovic. She’s 21. It gets forgotten in every conversation. She’s 21 years old. She’s as young as these people that are just kind of coming out now,” Roddick concluded.
Coco Gauff Called for Enhancing Players’ Privacy After Racket Smashing Video Goes Viral
After her racket-smashing video went viral, Gauff issued a statement on First Serve calling for greater privacy for players at the Australian Open. “I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t necessarily like breaking racquets, but I lost 1 and 2,” Gauff said.
“I broke one racquet (at the) French Open, I think, and I said I would never do it again on court, because I don’t like that’s a good representation. So maybe some conversations can be had because I feel like at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker room,” she added.
Coco Gauff could be seen in action next when the WTA circuit events resume in February.
Also read:
Coco Gauff Honestly Explains What Happened Today At Australian Open After Shocking 59-Minute QF Loss
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