Coco Gauff has questioned the lack of privacy for players at the Australian Open after smashing her racket in frustration following her heavy loss to Elina Svitolina.
An out of sorts Gauff lost 1-6, 2-6 to Svitolina in just 59 minutes in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
Following the match, the Australian Open‘s behind the scenes cameras picked up Gauff smashing her racket in the corridor.
In her post-match press conference, Gauff explained that she would prefer to release her frustration in the way she did instead of directing it at her team.
“I think for me, I know myself, and I don’t want to lash out on my team,” said the world No 3. “They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional.
“So I just took the minute to go and do that. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I don’t try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that, but I do know I need to let out that emotion.
“Otherwise, I’m just going to be snappy with the people around me, and I don’t want to do that because they don’t deserve it. They did their best. I did mine. Just need to let the frustration out.”
The two-time Grand Slam champion added: “I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t necessarily like breaking racquets, but I lost 1 and 2.
“I broke one racquet on quarters, I think, or round of 16 of French Open and I said I would never do it again on court because I don’t feel like that’s a good representation.
“I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did.
“So maybe some conversations can be had because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room.”
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Despite hitting five double faults and winning only 18% of her second serve points against Svitolina, Gauff feels she has made progress with her serve this year..
“I think it is a step in the right direction,” assessed the 21-year-old American.
“I feel like there’s definitely positives I can take, especially in my last match against Karolina [Muchova]. I feel like that moment was definitely a game I would usually throw in some doubles. So there are positives to take.
“Is my serve where I want it to be? No. I definitely served well in some matches, but I feel like today it’s one of those shots that I would like to be the shot to get me out of trouble.
“But I definitely can look back at this tournament and say that it has improved. I hope that the trend can continue upward. I definitely feel like we’re working on the right things.
“The focus was making the second more reliable, which definitely is more reliable, but obviously I want to just continue that and then make the first serve a bit more aggressive, which I did use in moments in my previous matches, but I think more on a consistent basis.”
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