Gauff frustrated as video of 'private' racket smash aired

A searing hot day turned into a sweltering night at the Australian Open, and eventually, Coco Gauff let off steam, shattering her racket after a lopsided loss to Elina Svitolina that cost her a place in the semifinal.

- Jamie Braidwood

Day 10 of the season-opening major began with top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka beating 18-year-old Iva Jovic 6-3, 6-0, before the Extreme Heat Policy was activated and the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena. The court was still under cover when No 12 seed Svitolina stunned the third-seeded Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in 59 minutes to earn a semifinal against Sabalenka.

The 31-year-old Ukrainian lost quarterfinals here in 2018, 2019 and last year, but she dominated Gauff from the outset. The 21-year-old American struggled with her serve and recorded five double-faults in the first set, during which she was broken four times.

She finally held in the fourth game of the second set, but by then it was too late. After leaving the court, the two-time major winner smashed her racket into the floor of a concrete ramp seven times on her way back to the player area.

“I tried to go somewhere where there was no cameras,” Gauff said after the defeat. But footage of the incident was immediately broadcast and shared on social media, with most player areas at the grand slam tournaments fitted with fly-on-the-wall cameras, including gyms and walkways.

A similar incident occurred in 2023, after Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final, with Judy Murray criticising the publication of footage from a training room that showed Sabalenka smashing her racket after the loss.