Coco Gauff cried tears of frustration on Court Philippe-Chatrier after taking issue with one of the chair umpire’s decisions during her French Open semi-final defeat to Iga Swiatek on Thursday.
The American was already up against it by the time of the incident, having come out on the wrong end of a one-sided first set which Swiatek won 6-2. And she will have felt like she couldn’t catch a break in the second, when a disagreement between the chair umpire and the line judge sparked boos from the crowd.
Swiatek’s serve was called out by the line judge before the chair umpire quickly overruled the decision. Gauff felt aggrieved because she missed her return, but made contact with the ball after hearing the call from the line judge.
She felt the point should have been replayed, but it went to Swiatek regardless. “I didn’t even finish my follow through,” Gauff ranted towards the chair umpire. “[The line judge] called it before I hit it. Can you ask him?”
The umpire declined, to which Gauff responded: “[The crowd] are booing you because you’re wrong. I have the right to finish my swing. This is the second time this has happened. It’s a Grand Slam semi-final. Know the rules of the game.”
Despite Gauff’s protestations, the umpire reiterated her view that the call from the line judge wouldn’t have affected the 20-year-old’s shot. The odds were already stacked against an emotional Gauff heading into the match, given Swiatek’s superb record at Roland Garros.
The world No. 1 has won three of the last four French Open titles and has the chance to make it three in a row with victory this year. Gauff and Swiatek met in the 2022 final in Paris, with the Pole coming out on top.
And it was the same outcome on Thursday as Swiatek marched into the final with a 6-2 6-4 victory. The 23-year-old dominated the forehand battles and held her nerve in a more competitive second set, preventing Gauff from building momentum.
Swiatek has not dropped a single set since Naomi Osaka took her the distance in the second round on May 29, with the four-time Grand Slam champion racking up three bagels in four sets across her last 16 and quarter-final matches.
No matter the outcome of the other women’s semi-final on Thursday between 12th seed Jasmine Paolini and 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva, Swiatek will go into the final as the red-hot favourite.
