Coco Gauff smashes racket in anger after being dismantled in less than an hour at Australian Open

Coco Gauff crashed out of the Australian Open in a shock quarterfinal defeat to Elina Svitolina.

The No. 3-seeded American was beaten in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2 by her opponent, who is ranked 12th in the world.

AFP

Gauff, who had become the youngest player to reach three consecutive Australian Open quarterfinals since the great Maria Sharapova, struggled from the outset and made 26 unforced errors.

She was dispatched swiftly by Svitolina, who advanced to the semifinals in just 59 minutes.

The opening set, in which both players exchanged a break of serve to start, lasted 29 minutes.

Svitolina won the second in similarly quick fashion, and wrapped up the quarterfinal with a near faultless effort, in less than an hour.

Gauff, who will no doubt be bitterly disappointed about the manor of the defeat, smashed her racket in the tunnel as she left the court.

She was also torn apart by US fans on social media, who stayed up late to watch the match.

American fans fume as Coco Gauff beat in Australian Open

“Coco Gauff got me up at 3am to perform a like this,” one wrote on X.

“Staying up to 3am to watch Coco Gauff get smoked smh,” another complained.

“I unironically stayed up until 3am to watch Coco serve like this,” a third said.

“I’m up at 4am watching Coco Gauff get her a** whopped in a QF. She can’t even get a point,” a fourth posted.

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While there will be an immediate inquest into how things went so terribly wrong for Gauff in Melbourne, Svitolina will be delighted with one of the biggest wins of her career to date.

Elina Svitolina revels in Australian Open ‘dream’

The 31-year-old is into the last for of the Australian Open for the first time, and will bid to reach her first Grand Slam final against No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head with a dominating 5-1 record (2-0 on outdoor hard courts), and Svitolina’s only victory in the series came in the 2020 Strasbourg semifinals.

Since then, she has won just one set in four meetings with the WTA’s top player.

The Ukrainian, who was subject to online abuse from fans last year, is now back in the top 10 thanks to her run in Melbourne.

“Not a bad (day at the office), I would say,” Svitolina said during her on-court interview.

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“Very, very pleased with the tournament so far. It’s always been my dream to come back here after maternity leave.

“It was my goal to get back into the top 10.”

Coco Gauff clashed with box in AO disaster

Gauff’s frustration was clear to see on the court, long before she smashed her racket in the tunnel.

As the quarterfinal started to slip away, the American — who matched an impressive Williams sisters record in the earlier rounds –was seen in a heated exchange with her box.

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The incident was captured by TNT Sports cameras, and discussed by pundits post-match.

“It was so surprising to see her come out, she’s usually a big-match player, so consistent and mentally tough — and she looked lost,” Laura Robson said.

“She looked shell-shocked at times.”

Tim Henman then added: “That was a shocking performance, there’s no two ways about it, and Svitolina just took advantage.”

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