Coco Gauff reignites call for VAR after ‘cheated’ claim in Olympics defeat

Coco Gauff has made a plea for tennis to adopt a VAR system, after the American No.1 was involved in a controversial moment during her singles exit at the Paris Olympic Games.

Gauff was beaten by Croatian Donna Vekic, 7-5 6-2, in the third round of her debut Olympics campaign on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Last 🎱

Donna Vekic defeats Coco Gauff in straight sets to advance to the quarter-finals.#Paris2024 | #Olympics | #tennis pic.twitter.com/8xe6Ebo2uT

— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 30, 2024

However, the main talking point of the match came in the second set at 3-2 on serve to Vekic, who had a break point opportunity.

The American’s serve was returned by Vekic which was originally called out by a line judge, but was then overruled by chair umpire Jaume Campistol.

As Gauff had hit the ball into the net, Campistol awarded Vekic with the point and consequently the decisive break, but the US Open champion argued that the original out call had impacted her shot.

“I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball,” a tearful Gauff explained. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules. I always have to advocate for myself, all the time. I’m getting cheated in this game. You guys are not fair to me.”

This is not the first time that Gauff has been involved in a situation like this on the grounds of Roland Garros, having also been in a similar position in her French Open semi-final against Iga Swiatek earlier this year.

Back then, Gauff suggested that VAR should be brought into tennis and she reiterated that request when speaking to press after her Olympics defeat, but was clear to point out that she didn’t think the call affected the outcome of the match.

“I felt that he called it before I hit it and I don’t think the ref disagreed, I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did,” explained Gauff. “There’s been multiple times this year where that happened to me, where I feel like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court. I feel like in tennis, we should have a VAR system because these points are big deals.

“And, yeah, usually afterwards, they apologise, so it’s kind of frustrating when the sorry doesn’t help you once the match is over. I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point but, for sure, being not a break, whereas maybe replaying that point can make a big difference in that game.”

The 20-year-old added, “But I’m not going sit here and say one point affected the result today, because I was already on the losing side of things before that point happened.”

Video review has been trialled at events before including the US Open and the ATP Next Gen Finals, but has not been brought into the sport on a more permanent basis.

While Gauff is no longer in the singles draw, she still has medal hopes in the women’s doubles draw with Jessica Pegula and mixed doubles event with Taylor Fritz.

Inside the baseline…

It is a very difficult situation to comment on, especially when you are not in it in the heat of the moment. However, on this occasion it seemed that the out call actually came after Gauff hit it, whereas at the French Open earlier this year it seemed that she had more of a valid point. Despite this, the call for VAR would be a sensible one as it would just help clear up so many issues in terms of line calls and doubles bounces.

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