Coco Gauff exited the Australian Open with a whimper earlier today, having been bullied by Elina Svitolina from start to finish.
It was a supreme performance from the Ukrainian, although she admittedly didn’t need to be anywhere near her best to gain passage into the semi-finals.
Instead, it was another instance of self-destruction from the 21-year-old, whose serve let her down as the unforced errors piled up.
She departed Rod Laver Arena having expressed her frustration throughout the match, but it had yet to boil over.
Seemingly, Coco Gauff was waiting for a little privacy.
Coco Gauff pictured destroying her racket after her loss
As Caroline Wozniacki would later point out: “We have cameras everywhere around the grounds.”
Having departed into the bowels of the stadium, Gauff likely thought she was safe to unleash her fury on her racket. Instead, the retired tennis star reacted to footage of the outpouring of emotion.
Are you worried about Coco Gauff in 2026?
She claimed, live on ESPN: “Yeah, I mean, she’ll be frustrated about today. It was not a match that she was expecting.
“She obviously lost pretty badly, and so for her, that’s gonna be fresh, and as an athlete, that’s not the way that you want to get out of a tournament.
“And honestly, I don’t mind, you know, show your frustration, get it out, move on, and get back on a practice court. We have cameras everywhere around the grounds. I think she tried to move out behind that wall, thought maybe you wouldn’t be able to see her there. It is what it is.”
Then asked where she goes from here, Wozniacki added: “She’s got to find a flight home and try to just digest this match, talk to her team, say, ‘Okay, what went wrong? Why did it go south so quickly? And how do I get more consistency on my serve?’ Maybe we don’t need to talk technique that much. Maybe I just need reps. Maybe I just need to be out there by myself and figure out a rhythm that works for me.
“And then she’s going to go practice, and everything’s gonna go back to normal. She’s going to go play in the Middle East, and she’s going to find her way back. She’s still young.
There’s no reason to stress, and we’re gonna see her back at the big stages.”
Coco Gauff looked lost in the Australian Open quarter-finals
Gauff, unsurprisingly, looked lost on court today. It was really tough to watch.
Her downbeat demeanour was justifiable given how swiftly the scoreline slipped away from her, with her serve letting her down once again, among many other things.
It took the American until the 11th game to record her first hold, winning just 33% of points behind her second serve.
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As such, she remonstrated with her team on occasion, but even they were powerless to stop her slumping out of the Australian Open.
Gauff still has so far to go before she is at the level she clearly wants to be. Hopefully, by the end of 2026, she can figure out the numerous issues plaguing her game at the moment.
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