"When you're playing against Iga Swiatek, every play matters" - Coco Gauff on crying after line-call dispute with chair umpire during French Open SF

Coco Gauff opened up about the line-call controversy involving the chair umpire during her semifinals against Iga Swiatek at the 2024 French Open. Swiatek comfortably outclassed the American 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 37 minutes.

During the second set, Gauff was involved in a heated argument with the chair umpire. One of Swiatek's serves was called out but was immediately overruled by the umpire. However, the American was distracted by the call, and her return hit the net.

Swiatek was awarded the point much to the World No. 3's surprise. She had a heated exchange with the umpire, as she wanted the point to be replayed because the call was made before she hit her return. Her demands ended in vain, as the umpire didn't budge. As Gauff walked back to continue, the cameras caught the American in tears.

Coco Gauff was asked to elaborate on the incident during her post-match press conference. The American mentioned how the incident was overwhelming and also said that she couldn't afford to give away points to an opponent of Iga Swiatek's caliber.

"I think it was just overwhelming of everything. Obviously, I am losing the match and when you're playing against her (Iga Swiatek), every play matters against anybody, but especially against her so I think it as just one of those moments," Gauff said.

However, Gauff said that she was proud of bouncing back and breaking Swiatek. She also said that, while she doesn't usually get frustrated with such calls, everything that was happening around her led to her losing composure.

"But I overcame it, I obviously won that game. I usually don't get too frustrated with decisions like that, but I think it was just like a combination of everything going on in the moment," she added.

"I definitely think as a sport we have to evolve" - Coco Gauff calls for an upgrade in tennis technology

Coco Gauff

Following up on her remarks, Coco Gauff called for an upgrade in the technology used in tennis and asked for the inclusion of the video review system. She felt that it was ridiculous that the system was not already the norm in today's times.

"I think tennis is the only sport where not only we don't have the VR system, but a lot of times the decisions are made by one person. In other sports, there's usually multiple refs in making a decision. I know the US Open brought some of it last year, I believe. I know we used it in our doubles at one point. Yeah, I definitely think at this point it's almost ridiculous that we don't have it," Coco Gauff said.

According to her, players pay the price of many poor decisions during games, which isn't fair. The American also brought up the existence of the technology and asked why the players did not have access to it.

"Not also just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it. Also, there are so many decisions that are made, and it sucks as a player to go back or online and you see that you were completely right, and it's, like, what does that give you in that moment?" she added.

"I definitely think as a sport we have to evolve, and we have the technology. They're showing it on TV, so I don't get why the player can't see it."

Coco Gauff will overtake Aryna Sabalenka following the French Open and become the new World No. 2.