Gauff decries lack of privacy as racket-smash video goes viral

After suffering a devastating straight-sets defeat at the Australian Open yesterday, Coco Gauff thought she had found somewhere private to vent her frustrations.

- Tom Lutz

Instead, video of the American smashing her racket off court has flooded the internet and led to questions about players' privacy at tennis grand slams.

The No 3 seed at the tournament was well below her usual high standards during the 6-1, 6-2 defeat by the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

After the match, the 21-year-old thought she had found somewhere to let out her frustration on a ramp leading away from the Rod Laver Arena. She smashed her racket on the concrete floor seven times, but the incident was picked up by a camera and video of it flooded social media.

"I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras," Gauff told reporters. "I kind of have a thing with the broadcast. I feel like 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."

Sabalenka, who is the world No 1, smashed her racket in a training area after losing to Gauff at the 2023 US Open. A video of the incident went viral after it was caught on camera.