Coco Gauff stood up for herself big time after she thought that the chair umpire in her Dubai match against Karolina Pliskova made a blatant mistake and refused to acknowledge it.
Late in the second set of her Dubai round-of-16 match, Gauff hit a serve and Pliskova returned it before chair umpire Pierre Bachi called the American’s serve out. Pliskova’s return landed out, and when Gauff challenged the call on her service, it turned out that her serve was actually in. But chair umpire Bachi refused to give point to Gauff, instead telling the American to repeat her first serve.
“You called it out after she hit it,” Gauff argued… “Call the supervisor… you can’t deny me the supervisor. I’m gonna ask her what the rule is.”
For minutes, Gauff was pleading her case and demanding the supervisor to be called but chair umpire Bachi was adamant that she should replay the point and not have the supervisor called to the court.
“Can you not cut me off for two seconds?” Gauff bluntly asked at one point, before adding: “You called the ball way after she hit it. It’s not a feeling it’s the fact. You called the ball out – I thought it was in – the ball bounced and you said out. It was a late call. Everybody knows you called it out way after she hit it. It should be my point.”
Coco Gauff is not happy with the umpire in her match against Pliskova.
“You called it out after she hit it.”
“Can you not cut me off for two seconds?”
“Call the supervisor… you can’t deny me the supervisor. I’m gonna ask her what the rule is.”
Coco hit a serve that was… pic.twitter.com/QyfBN1q6D6
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) February 21, 2024
Many fans came to Gauff’s defense
Toward the end of their argument, Gauff told chair umpire Bachi she wanted to watch a replay of the scene after the match. Chair umpire Bachi seemingly agreed.
Reacting to the video on X, many fans praised Gauff for standing up for herself and defended the American’s action by stating that she did nothing wrong because the point should have been hers.
Meanwhile, Gauff managed to win the second set against Pliskova after the incident with a 6-4 scoreline and force a third set after losing the first set 2-6.
Coco Gauff© Getty Images Sport – Christopher Pike
In the ninth game – in which Gauff was serving for the second set – the American missed out on four set points before Pliskova realized her third break point to get the break back. However, Gauff was able to keep her focus after failing to serve out for the second set as she broke Pliskova again in the 10th game – the game in which the Czech was serving to stay in the set.
Then, Gauff also won the third set to complete a 2-6 6-4 6-3 win over Pliskova.
What Gauff said about the incident after the match?
After completing a comeback win over Pliskova, 19-year-old Gauff acknowledged the moment lasted longer than it should have been. However, Gauff felt she did the right thing and needed to stand up for himself.
“It definitely gave me some adrenaline. Luckily I was able to overcome that pretty quickly. I’m glad I was able to reset,” Gauff said after the match.
“I think it just fuelled me. I want to watch back the video… It’s just one point. It happens in tennis. Players make mistakes; everybody makes mistakes. It kind of went upward from there for me.
“I was trying to tell myself to stay calm the next point. Sometimes I get angry and I go for too much. I was trying to let that not be the turning point for the set.
“Maybe I dragged it out a little longer than I needed to, but I did what I felt was best in that moment.”
Coco Gauff© Getty Images Sport – Christopher Pike
Meanwhile, Gauff is set to play next against 2024 Australian Open quarterfinalist Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Jelena Ostapenko. When Gauff and 25-year-old Kalinskaya meet, it is going to be their first meeting. While Kalinskaya is off to a great start to the season, Gauff will certainly be the favorite to win their first meeting.
If Gauff beats Kalinskaya, the 19-year-old American will reach back-to-back Dubai semifinals and come two wins away from winning her second title of the season. However, Kalinskaya has had a couple of notable wins already in 2024 and there is no doubt that Gauff won’t be taking the Russian for granted despite being the favorite.
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