Coco Gauff has called for more privacy for tennis players after being caught on camera smashing her racket in an off-court players’ area following her Australian Open quarter-final loss to Elina Svitolina on Tuesday.
After the loss, the 21-year-old two-time major winner, said she “tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera, because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets”.
Unfortunately for the star, there’s pretty much no place in Rod Laver Arena except for the changing rooms that is beyond the scope of the cameras.
So, while the star thought she had privately broken her racket by smashing it seven times against a concrete ramp, footage of the act was quickly broadcast on TV and social media.
“Certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna (Sabalenka) after I played her in the final of the US Open – I feel like they don’t need to broadcast,” Gauff said in her post-match news conference.
“I broke one racket (at the) French Open, I think, and I said I would never do it again on court because I don’t feel like that’s a good representation,” she said.
“Maybe some conversations can be had.”
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Gauff said she thought it was better to shatter a racket than take out any frustration on her team, saying “they don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional”.
The star reiterated that she didn’t think it was a “bad thing”, but said she tried not to “do it on court in front of kids”.
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It was an unusually bad day for the player who made her Grand Slam debut at 15 and won her first major, the 2023 US Open, at 19.
Tennis players breaking their rackets on court isn’t especially rare, with multiple cases of it over the years.
It nearly always results in them receiving a fine from the tennis authorities.
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However, the filming and broadcasting of a player who is trying to smash their racket in private is – and is likely to spark a conversation around player privacy, especially with so many young players in tennis.
Tennis Australia, which manages the Australian Open, has been contacted for comment.
