Coco Gauff wants more privacy for players after Australian Open exit
By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Sport Correspondent, Melbourne
Coco Gauff called for more privacy for players after she was caught on camera smashing her racket following a shock Australian Open quarter-final loss to Elina Svitolina.
Svitolina needed just 59 minutes to swat aside an out-of-sorts Gauff 6-1 6-2, and she is through to the last four at Melbourne Park for the first time at the age of 31.
Gauff’s disappointment was clear as she walked quickly off court, and she admitted she tried to find a place without cameras to take her frustration on her racket, smashing it repeatedly on the ground.
Coco Gauff releases her frustrations after a disappointing defeat in the Australian Open quarter-finals 💥 pic.twitter.com/4Ur9jlxR0P
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 27, 2026
But it was captured by the tournament’s behind-the-scenes coverage and quickly broadcast on TV and social media.
“I tried to go somewhere where there was no cameras,” said Gauff. “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.
“So maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like, at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker room.”
Gauff had no regrets about her actions, saying: “I don’t want to lash out on my team. They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional. So I just took the minute to go and do that.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I try not to do it on court in front of kids and things like that, but I do know I need to let out that emotion.”
Gauff has struggled since winning her second grand slam title at the French Open last year, particularly with her serve, and statistics here of three winners and 26 unforced errors told their own story.
“I tried my best to be positive, but I just felt like nothing for me was working,” she said. “That’s a bit frustrating when you are out there and you feel like your strengths aren’t really doing their thing.
“There were many matches watching Serena (Williams) play that she would play bad and be able to scrap those out and win the title. I just need to figure out how to get through those bad days.”
While it was a bad day for Gauff, it was one of the best of Svitolina’s career, with the Ukrainian through to her fourth slam semi-final and second since she returned to the tour following the birth of daughter Skai in 2022.
Svitolina was the latest player to take a break at the end of last season for mental health reasons but she began this year by winning the WTA tournament in Auckland and will now return to the top 10.
She said: “I’m very pleased with the tournament so far and it’s always been my dream to come back after maternity leave in the top 10. Unfortunately it didn’t happen last year but I told my coach this was my goal for this season.
“It means the world to me. I try to push myself, to give myself this motivation to continue.”
Svitolina is yet to go further than the semi-finals at a major and, if she is to end that here, she will have to get the better of world number one Sabalenka, who is yet to drop a set and ended the run of 18-year-old Iva Jovic with an emphatic 6-3 6-0 win.
The scoreline was harsh on the teenager, who was very competitive in the points but time and again came out on the wrong end of games.
It was the hottest day in Melbourne for 17 years and, unlike Gauff and Svitolina, Sabalenka did not have the benefit of the roof, which only closed as she was conducting her post-match interview.
“At the end of the match, it was really hot out there,” said the 27-year-old. “I’m glad they closed the roof almost halfway so we had a lot of shade in the back.”
Organisers had reworked the schedule in anticipation of the heat, with the start of the wheelchair draws postponed until Wednesday and junior matches beginning at 9am.
The heat stress scale hit the cut-off mark of five just before 1.30pm, with play on the outside courts not resuming until after 7pm.
