Coco Gauff’s campaign at the 2026 Australian Open was put to the sword by Elina Svitolina, with the Ukrainian ruthlessly dispatching the American 6-1, 6-2 in the women’s singles quarterfinals. Following the loss, Gauff was captured on camera walking to an indoor area of the Rod Laver Arena armed with one of her HEAD rackets. Subsequently, the 21-year-old violently smashed the racket at least seven times before the broadcast began showing scenes from a different area of the iconic tennis stadium.
Later, during her post-match press conference, Gauff was asked to share her thoughts on the racket smash, which was a rare visible instance of the World No. 3 venting her frustrations on a racket. Here, the reigning French Open champion bemoaned that despite her best efforts of finding a private place to smash her racket, she was still caught in the act by a camera, with the footage of the incident already viral on social media. Gauff said:
“I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras. I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna after I played her in the final of the US Open. I feel like they don’t need to broadcast. I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera, because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets, but I lost 1 and 2 (6-1, 6-2).”
Going on to claim that the Australian Open is a tournament where only the locker room has privacy to offer to players, the 11-time career singles titlist added:
“I broke one racket at the French Open I think, and I said I would never do it again on court, because I don’t feel like that’s a good representation. But yeah, I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did. So maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker room.”
“I Don’t Want To Lash Out At My Team” – Coco Gauff Explains Why Smashing Rackets Makes Sense To Her
Gauff also answered in the affirmative when asked if smashing rackets helps players to move on from bad losses. According to the 21-year-old, by smashing rackets, players can vent their frustrations instead of taking them out on their team members. Acknowledging the work her own team keeps putting in behind the scenes for her on-court success, the two-time singles Major champion said:
“Yeah, definitely (breaking rackets can help in moving on from bad losses). For me, I know myself and I don’t want to lash out at my team. They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know, emotional, so I just took that minute to go and do that and yeah, I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I guess I don’t try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that, but I do know I need to let out that emotion, otherwise I’m just going to be snappy with the people around me, and I don’t want to do that, because as I said, they don’t deserve that. They did their best, I did mine. Just need to let the frustration out.”
Gauff will likely take a brief break now before beginning preparations for the WTA Tour’s upcoming Middle East Swing, which will include a WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi followed by two WTA 1000 events in Doha and Dubai.
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Coco Gauff Leaves Christopher Eubanks Comeback-Less During Chaotic Australian Open Interview Banter
Chris Evert Bluntly Shuts Down Coco Gauff Criticism As American Marches Into Australian Open QF
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