Paris 2024 Olympics: Coco Gauff loses to Donna Vekić after tearful disagreement with chair umpire

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Coco Gauff’s Olympic dreams are over. Her Round 3 contender, Croatia’s Donna Vekić, defeated Gauff 7-6(7), 6-2. It is Vekić, not Gauff, who advances to the quarterfinals for a shot at an Olympic gold medal.

It looked early on as if Gauff would cruise into the next round after leading 4-1 in the opening set, but Vekić fought back and forced a tiebreak before eventually taking the lead.

It was the first time in the tournament that Gauff lost a set.

From that moment on, things didn’t get any better. She didn’t have the same energy as in the first set, and then a fight with the chair umpire threw the match into disarray.

It didn’t take long for Vekić to claim the win.

Gauff’s first-round victory over Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović made her the youngest American woman to win an Olympic singles match since Venus Williams in 2000. She defeated Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle in the second round to advance to play Vekić on Tuesday.

It’s been quite the Olympics so far for the 20-year-old Gauff. After being named one of two U.S. flag bearers at the opening ceremony, along with NBA star LeBron James, she’s now 3-0 in the competition and also won the Olympic pin game, courtesy of Snoop Dogg.

Vekić will now face the winner of the match between Marta Kostyuk and Maria Sakkari, with a place in the semi-finals at stake.