In the end, it wasn’t how Coco Gauff would’ve liked to finish. Earlier today, the American sensation bowed out of the women’s singles event at the ongoing Paris Olympic Games. Gauff went down against a spirited Donna Vekic, who was on the top of her game. On the other hand, persistent issues cropped up for Gauff as she succumbed to a shocking defeat not many had expected. However, there was a tennis bigwig who rang alarm bells for Gauff even before her defeat today. It was Serena Williams’ childhood coach, Rick Macci.
A few days ago, Macci was involved in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports. During that conversation, he was asked if the Paris Olympics was a redemption time for Gauff after a poor start to the season. However, the legendary coach was cautious in his opinions about Gauff finding success in Paris, saying, “There’s a fine line between winning and losing. She loses first round at Wimbledon, okay, then in the hard courts she had a lot of Houdini escapes and she won a tournament. Then more Houdini escapes, close matches, wins a tournament.”
One of the major reasons for Gauff’s loss today was due to her poor serve. It became an Achilles heel and she won just 56% of the points on her first serve. Highlighting this issue, Macci told us, “Confidence is a fleeting thing. She has a big swing, she has a severe grip which is okay but I want to rewire the whole thing.”
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Did Rick Macci just drop the ultimate truth bomb on Coco Gauff’s Olympic failure? React!
Interestingly, Macci is a huge Gauff fan and even declared in February this year, “During an interview was asked about the future of the Delray Dart @CocoGauff.The 19 year old has not even Scratched the SURFACE as I feel she will win a Slam on Every SURFACE.”
While her mental toughness rivals Roger Federer’s as Macci put it, her technicalities of the game will need some work. As soon as they do, she might just be unstoppable. But for now, her singles campaign at her maiden Olympics has ended.
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In what was an eventful encounter, Gauff was left angered with a crucial call going against her. Subsequently, she even got emotional as things got out of her hands.
Tough day at the office for Coco Gauff
The incident happened in the sixth game of the second set when a line judge had initially called Vekic’s return long. As a result, Gauff didn’t complete her return and subsequently, the chair umpire overturned the decision in Vekic’s favor as the ball had actually landed in. Gauff argued that the line judge’s call had disturbed her swing and thus, she wasn’t able to complete her return.
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Gauff said, “I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball. It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself.” When the call stood in Vekic’s favor, Gauff got emotional, and revealed, “I feel like I’m getting cheated on constantly in this game. It happens to me, it happened to Serena (Williams).”
While Vekic deserved the credit after putting on a gritty display, it was a saddening end for Gauff in singles. However, she still has the chance to make up for it in the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles event. She will have her task cut out of rising from today’s defeat and finding success in the doubles format.
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