French Open: 'That is awful' - Tearful Coco Gauff tells umpire 'You're wrong!' in semi-final with Iga Swiatek

Updated 06/06/2024 at 17:53 GMT

There was a very dramatic moment during the second set of the huge French Open semi-final between world No. 1 Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff on Thursday afternoon at Roland-Garros. The American was left feeling aggrieved after the umpire overruled a call of 'out' against a Swiatek serve to hand the Pole an important point, with Gauff having hit her return out and believing the shot did not matter.

'You know you're wrong!' - Gauff reduced to tears after heated exchange with umpire

Coco Gauff was left very upset by a decision from the umpire, Aurelie Tourte, to overrule a serve from Iga Swiatek that was initially called out, and it led to an emotional reaction from the third seed during their blockbuster semi-final at the French Open.

The second set was going with serve as Swiatek aimed to draw level once more with her opponent in the fourth game, but with Gauff sensing a potential opportunity at 0-15 on return.

As the Pole fired down a big serve, an immediate call of 'out' came from the line judge, and Gauff felt as though she hit her return out of the court as a result of that ruling.

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So the American was left feeling very aggrieved when Tourte overruled the line call and awarded the point to Swiatek as a result of Gauff's return going out.

It all came down to the timing of the initial 'out' call and when Gauff heard it. She certainly felt as though she only hit her return out after hearing the ruling, as she protested at the chair.

"He called it and then I hit it, I'm 1000% sure!" Gauff told Tourte.

"If he called it before I hit it, I saw my reaction - I didn't even finish my follow-through! Are you serious?! He called it before I hit it.

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"Can you ask him? They are booing because you know you are wrong! They are booing because you are wrong. He called it before I hit the ball. I have the right to finish my swing.

"You are wrong, and it's the second time it has happened. It is a Grand Slam semi-final, know the rules of the game."

"Did she return it before the call or after the call, that is the big dilemma," tennis legend Chris Evert, on commentary for Eurosport at the time, began.

"She is right, by the way. Coco Gauff is right, absolutely. She would never, ever tell a lie to the umpire.

"She is crying. That is awful, awful officiating, the umpire's decision. She is saying that she had a play on it."

It could have proved to be a crucial moment as Swiatek went on to clinch a stunning straight sets, 6-2 6-4, victory over the American to reach the final at Roland-Garros.

Speaking in her post-match press conference, Gauff lamented the lack of technology in tennis able to intervene in an incident as controversial as this one.

"100%, I think tennis is the only sport where not only we don't have the VR system, but a lot of times the decisions are made by one person," she said. "In other sports, there are usually multiple refs in making a decision.

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"I know the US Open brought in some of it last year, I believe. I know we used it in our doubles at one point. Yeah, I definitely think at this point it's almost ridiculous that we don't have it. Not also just speaking because that happened to me, but I just think every sport has it.

"Also, there are so many decisions that are made, and it sucks as a player to go back or online, and you see that you were completely right, and it's, like, what does that give you in that moment? Also, in situations, you can call for the supervisor, but there's not much they can do from that standpoint.

"I definitely think as a sport we have to evolve, and we have the technology. They're showing it on TV, so I don't get why the player can't see it."

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