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Tennis fans rallied behind Coco Gauff after her heated exchange with the chair umpire over a controversial call in the third round of the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.
Gauff squared off against Pliskova for a place in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event in Dubai. Their encounter took a controversial turn when the chair umpire Pierre Bacchi called a 'fault' on the American's serve as she attempted to take a 5-2 lead in the second set.
Despite the Hawk-Eye system showing the serve to have landed in, the chair umpire refused to award the point to the 19-year-old and allowed her another first serve instead, asserting that Pliskova's return had been hindered by his call.
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Coco Gauff disputed the umpire's ruling, arguing that he had made the call after the Czech's return had already hit the net. She then repeatedly asked the umpire to call the supervisor to clarify the rules.
"Call the supervisor. I am not playing until you call the supervisor. I’m gonna ask her the rule," Coco Gauff said. "You don’t know the answer. My right is to question."
However, the chair umpire refused to do so, forcing Gauff to resume play without being able to consult the supervisor.
Tennis fans were incensed by the chair umpire's conduct and refusal to summon the supervisor, with one fan accusing him of 'abusing his authority.'
"This seems Exhibit A of Abuse of Authority. IF a player has Right to ask for Supervisor. THEN umpire MUST act in accordance with Rule just as all players must act in accordance with all RULES or face consequences. This is simple and @WTA should immediately clarify. 2nd Pliskova?" the fan posted.
"I’ve been watching tennis since 2015, almost a decade, and I’ve never seen an umpire refuse to call the supervisor," another fan wrote.
Fans continued to air their grievances with the umpire, backing Coco Gauff as being in the right.
"That umpire is a tyrant and shouldn’t be able to call anymore tennis matches. The way he handled that situation was pathetic. Coco was in the right," a fan commented.
"Then wasted 5 minutes arguing with her. The umpire knew he was wrong probably why he didn’t want to call the supervisor. So foul," another fan chimed in.
Meanwhile, one fan hailed the 19-year-old for her composure while arguing with the umpire, contending that players like Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios would've had violent outbursts in her place.
"Damn. Coco was extremely patient here. Imagine Zverev or Kyrgios, they would have destroyed the chair umpires seat," the fan wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from fans:
"It just fueled me" - Coco Gauff on heated argument with chair umpire in Dubai 3R
Coco Gauff successfully shook off her argument with the chair umpire to claim a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Karolina Pliskova and advance to the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 event.
Following her win, the American admitted that the heated exchange with the umpire had simply fueled her while expressing confidence that his call had come after Pliskova's return.
"I think it just fueled me. I wanna watch back the video. I feel confident that it was after," Coco Gauff said in her post-match interview.
Gauff will battle it out against Anna Kalinskaya for a place in the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Kalinskaya defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-5 to book her place against the American.
