Coco Gauff cut an emotional figure earlier today, as she crashed out of the Australian Open in the quarter-finals.
It marked a really disappointing performance from the American, who wilted under the pressure of such a big opportunity.
Elina Svitolina, conversely, rose to the occasion, and has now secured a semi-final clash with Aryna Sabalenka.
Coco Gauff was seen destroying her racket after the match behind the scenes, in a show of frustration that was seldom seen on court.
However, she did make one comment to her box mid-way through the encounter, which has since been described as ‘heartbreaking’.
Coco Gauff’s heartbreaking conversation with her team
Chris Eubanks, reacting live on ESPN after the match, began by stating: “A lot of the areas that are her strengths, like her backhand, her movement, didn’t even exist anymore.
“She got to a point where she was complaining to her team, you could see the negative body language to herself, and of course, the racket smash at the end.
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“It’s something that I think a lot of players feel that anxiety, they want to be able to get it out. Coco tried to go to a bit of a private place, but it gets to a point where there’s nothing you can do. She felt it from the first game of this match, progressed all the way to the end.
“We thought early second set, maybe she was gonna be able to turn it around, rackets came out, she started to find it. The crowd started to get behind her. We heard one fan yell out, ‘Come on, Coco, you know who you are.’ It did not help.
“She was not in a good place once this match started to go, and once it got away from her, it got away from her fast.”
His co-host then added: “When she went to her team, and she asked, in what I found was pretty heartbreaking fashion, what am I doing wrong? Is there something wrong with my game? Am I playing the wrong way? That felt like a moment. We’ve talked about Coco’s resilience. She’s shown it in so many matches over the years. It just wasn’t quite there.”
This prompted a final piece of reluctant analysis from Eubanks, having just watched his friend exit the Australian Open: “Yeah, it’s gonna be tough, because I guarantee you, this is gonna sting. This is a matchup in which she has loved in the past. I’m sure she wanted to make it back to another, at least a semi-final to go up against Sabalenka.
“She’s got to get back to the drawing board. She’s got to get back. I think on the practice court is going to be one thing, but I think she’s got to play more matches.
“I think a lot of this confidence will come when she’s playing matches, so we’ll see whatever she decides to step foot on the match court again.”
Gauff shared another conversation she had with her coaches during the match, asking about it in her post-match press conference.
Coco Gauff still has plenty of work to do with her coach
Gauff hired a biomechanics coach back in August, with the expectation that Gavin MacMillan would be the answer to her serving and forehand troubles.
Now, five months on, it’s clear to see he has yet to have the overwhelming impact many hoped he might.
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Although the tennis off-season is notoriously short, they have had plenty of time and plenty of tournaments to implement some kind of meaningful change.
And yet, when the going got tough, once again Gauff wilted.
A biomechanics coach is likely the answer to her many issues, but it seems like any solution is set to take far longer than first imagined.
