Coco Gauff Speaks On Racket Smashing After Emotional Quarterfinal Loss At Australian Open

The 21-year-old tennis star explained what led to the public display of her frustration.

Coco Gauff took her quarterfinal loss at the Australian Open hard, breaking down in tears as she walked off the court.

Gauff had hopes to add another Grand Slam title to her list as she entered the tournament. However, her time at Melbourne Park came to an end following a heartbreaking loss to Elina Svitolina, 1-6, 2-6. The swift defeat left Gauff in distress as she left the court, taking her frustrations out on her racket.

According to NBC News, Gauff smashed her racket a whopping seven times, including six for every dropped serve she had in the Jan. 27 match. As the No. 3 seed, Gauff had high hopes to best Svitolina, ranked 12th as she entered the competition.

However, Svitolina dominated the match as Gauff struggled to catch a stride with her serve. Alongside Gauff’s five double-faults in the first set, Svitolina took the victory in just under an hour. Frustrated by her lackluster performance, Gauff tried to let off steam away from the cameras. The 21-year-old even noted that the intimate moment was taken away from her because of the lack of privacy in the arena.

“Certain moments — the same thing happened to Aryna (Sabalenka) after I played her in the final of the U.S. Open — I feel like they don’t need to broadcast,” Gauff said in her post-match news conference. “I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets.”

Gauff also mentioned how breaking rackets is not an infrequent occurrence, having done so before at the French Open. Despite this, she tries not make a habit out of doing so. She also acknowledged that it could appear as a bout of poor sportsmanship.

“I broke one racket (at the) French Open, I think, and I said I would never do it again on court because I don’t feel like that’s a good representation. So, yeah, maybe some conversations can be had.”

However, she still considers it a better way to deal with the heartbreak than to lash out at her team. She finds the physical release therapeutic, especially as she leaves herself all on the court.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Like I said, 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.”

Although Gauff’s run at the 2026 Australian Open has ended, the rising tennis star still has plenty of time in her already-successful career to go for another title.