American flagbearer and tennis superstar Coco Gauff was left crying and declaring she had been “cheated” in a shock singles loss at the Paris Olympics.
Gauff was upset 7-6(7) 6-2 by Croatia’s Donna Vekic, producing poor play at times but also being left staggered by a brutal call that went against her.
Trying to avoid being broken at 2-3 in the second set, Gauff lost a point where the ball hit by Vekic was called out as she swung her racquet, but the umpire then overturned it and called it in.
The umpire claimed the out call did not hinder Gauff, which she heavily disputed.
“He called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff said.
“That doesn’t matter,” the umpire replied.
“Yes it does. It kind of does when the ball isn’t that fast.
“This is not fair. You guys are not fair to me. I hope that one day the game becomes fair, but it’s not.”
Gauff was then in tears as she spoke to the court supervisor, declaring “I feel like I’m getting cheated constantly in this game. This is the 3rd time this happens to me this year.”
She later said: “I felt that they called it before I hit. I don’t think the ref disagreed. I think he just thought it didn’t, like, affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
TRIATHLON POSTPONED IN $2.5BN DISASTER
The Paris Olympics officially announced the postponement of the men’s triathlon due to water contamination in the Seine – just hours before it was set to begin.
A decision was made at 4:15am local time, ahead of the event’s scheduled start time at 8am (4pm AEST).
The men’s event will now be held tomorrow at 10.45am local time (6.45pm AEST), directly after the women’s event at 8am (4pm AEST)
Paris spent a reported $2.47 billion AUD cleaning up the river Seine as one of the key legacy aspects of this year’s Olympics. Three public swimming areas were set to be opened to the public after the games. The mayor of Paris last month even swam in the Seine to prove it was safe.
AUSSIE BLOG: All the Day Four Aussies and medal wins!
SWIM BLOG: All the action from the pool!
Emotional parents react to 200m final | 01:28
Two days of training sessions in the river were cancelled due to recent rainfall – including during the Opening Ceremony, which further contaminated the Seine with raw sewage and increased the speed of the current.
“Despite the improvement of water quality levels over the last hours, the readings at some points of the swim course are still above the acceptable limits,” organisers said.
“Unfortunately, meteorological events beyond our control, such as the rain which fell over Paris on 26 and 27 July, can alter water quality and compel us to reschedule the event for health reasons.”
Officials have been testing the river every 12 hours – at 3am and 3pm each day, with the test results coming back 12 hours later.
Based on yesterday afternoon’s results – including the levels of E.Coli and enterococci bacteria – the race was forced to be postponed at the last minute.
Officials had been confident that hot and sunny conditions would improve bacteria levels and slow the current, but despite some improvements (and the current slowing to an acceptable level) the water was still not deemed safe.
If the water conditions do not improve in the next day, both the men’s and women’s events could be postponed to Friday.
And if the water quality is still not cleared as safe for athletes to compete, the Olympics could scrap the swim leg altogether and conduct the race with only running and cycling legs.
“We actually raced here last year in the test event, and I don’t think anyone got sick after the race, so that can’t be said about all the races we do,” American triathlete Seth Rider said earlier this week about the potential of contaminated water causing illness.
“To be honest, for me, I’d swim in anything to try and get a medal,” Aussie competitor Matt Hauser told the Sydney Morning Herald. Luke Willian was the other Aussie set to compete in the men’s triathlon today, after heartbreakingly missing out on selection for Tokyo.
WHAT TO WATCH TONIGHT
America’s gymnastics superhero Simone Biles is tipped to win her first Olympic gymnastics gold since 2016.
Biles appears to be back at the peak of her powers as she leads the United States on what has been billed as a redemption mission in the women’s team final.
The 27-year-old, considered the greatest gymnast of all time, won four gold medals at the Rio 2016 Games.
But she battled the disorientating mental block gymnasts call the “twisties” at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Biles dramatically pulled out of most of her events including the team final and the United States settled for silver behind Russia after winning gold in 2012 and 2016.
Biles, a 23-time world champion, went home with a silver and a bronze, and while she won many plaudits for opening up on her mental health, there were critics who accused her of putting herself before her country.
“It has to be for us,” Biles said of the United States’ bid to recapture their women’s team crown.
“It can’t be for anybody else. We do it for ourselves and the love of the sport and the love for representing the USA.” The US team topped the rankings in qualifying and Biles wowed an A-list crowd in Paris on Sunday in her first appearance in the French capital, despite tweaking her left calf and competing with her leg taped.
ELSEWHERE
Gold medals are also up for grabs on Tuesday in fencing, judo, shooting and table tennis.
There is also the final of the women’s rugby sevens, after France clinched the men’s title in thrilling fashion.
In tennis, the “dream team” of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz return to action in the second round of the men’s doubles.
Source Agencies
