How about a little privacy? Gauff talks post-match smash after loss to Svitolina – Tennis Now
What’s worse than having a bad match on tennis’ biggest stage? How about a set of intrusive cameras tracking your frustrating moments as you walk down once-private hallways?
Coco Gauff put all the credit on her opponent’s struggles after losing in straight sets to Elina Svitolina on day 10 in Melbourne, but she was furious that footage of her smashing her racket after the match was caught on camera and broadcast around the world.
She was looking for a private place to vent some frustrations and thought she’d found one, but she was wrong. After the game, Gauff expressed her displeasure.
“I’m interested in radio. I feel like at certain moments – the same thing happened to Alina [Sabalenka] After I played her in the U.S. Open final. I don’t think they need to broadcast it. I tried to go to a place where I thought there would be no cameras because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets, but I lost the first and second games. “
Gauff explained that she usually doesn’t like to break her racket on the court. Instead, she opted for emotional bloodshed in the hallway — a moment that now makes news around the world.
“I broke a racket [in the] I think it’s the quarterfinals, or the round of 16 [at the] I think it was the French Open and I said I would never do that on the court again because I felt like it wasn’t a good representation. I tried to go to a place where they wouldn’t play it, but apparently they did. So, yeah, maybe there can be some dialogue because I feel like the only private place we have in this game is the locker room. “
Gauff praises Svitolina
The 21-year-old American said she struggled to adjust to the conditions inside the Rod Laver Arena, whose roof was closed due to the sweltering heat, but refused to blame this as a reason for her loss.
“She played really well and unfortunately, usually when people step up their game, I can step up my game and I didn’t do that today,” she said. “I attribute that to her because she forced me to play like that. It’s not like I just woke up and said, yeah, today was a bad day, but bad days are often caused by your opponent. So she did a great job.”
Gauff admitted she was disappointed with herself and even surprised she could only play three matches against the Ukrainian.
“Normally, I can at least push hard and make it tighter and then you never know, she might get nervous and something like that. Today I just couldn’t do that,” she said.
expect
Still, Gauff said reaching the quarterfinals is a goal she can continue to work towards. Although her serve struggled against Svitolina, she still believes her groundstrokes have improved enough to call her first Grand Slam of 2026 a positive.
“Is my serve where I want it to be? No,” she said. “I did serve the ball well in some matches, but I felt like today it was one of those shots that I hoped was going to be the one that got me out of trouble. But, yeah, I can definitely look back on this match and say it’s improved. I hope that trend continues upward. I definitely feel like we’re doing the right things.
“The focus is on making the second serve more reliable, which is definitely more reliable, but obviously I want to go ahead and make the first serve more aggressive – I’ve definitely used that in previous matches – but I think it’s more on a consistent basis.”
