Month: July 2024

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PARIS — The scene felt all too familiar to Coco Gauff. An officiating decision she was sure was wrong. A chair umpire who wouldn’t listen. Tears streaming down her cheeks. And, most disappointing of all, a loss, this time at the Paris Olympics.
Even the site was the same: Court Philippe Chatrier was where the reigning US Open champion was eliminated in the third round at the Summer Games by Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Tuesday.
That’s also the main stadium used annually for the French Open, where Gauff found herself in a nearly identical dispute over a call while losing to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in a semifinal last month.
“There’s been multiple times this year where that’s happened to me — where I felt like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” Gauff said afterward, renewing a call for video review to be used in tennis, as it is in many other professional sports.
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“I felt that he called it before I hit, and I don’t think the ref disagreed,” she said. “I think he just thought it didn’t affect my swing, which I felt like it did.”
Gauff, a 20-year-old American who was seeded No. 2 at the Olympics in singles, already was trailing by a lot when the episode happened two games from the end of the match.
She hit a serve, and Vekic’s return landed near the baseline. A line judge initially called Vekic’s shot out; Gauff did not keep the ball in play. Chair umpire Jaume Campistol thought Vekic’s shot landed in and awarded her the point, giving her a service break and a 4-2 lead.
Gauff walked over to talk to the official, and play was delayed for several minutes.
“I never argue these calls. But he called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff said to Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”
“It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time,” Coco Gauff told chair umpire Jaume Campistol during a lengthy argument. RITCHIE B TONGO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
She easily won her first two singles matches, dropping a total of just five games. But her first Olympic singles tournament — she is still in women’s doubles and mixed doubles — ended with a performance that was hardly her best on the hottest day of the Summer Games so far, with the temperature rising above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
“These points are big deals. Usually afterward, they apologize. So it’s kind of frustrating. The ‘sorry’ doesn’t help you once the match is over,” Gauff said. “I can’t say I would have won the match if I would have won that point.”
Even before the trouble over the umpiring decision, Gauff could not sustain a good start against Vekic, who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon this month.
The American led 4-1 and was a point from moving ahead 5-1 and serving for the opening set. But she didn’t close the deal, then wasted a couple of set points at 6-4 in the ensuing tiebreaker. Vekic surged to the end of that set, then maintained her level in the second.
One measure of Vekic’s superiority on this afternoon: She finished with 33 winners to just nine for Gauff.
“I’m not going to sit here and say one point affected the result today,” Gauff acknowledged, “because I was already on the losing side of things.”
Still, the most memorable moment in the match was that second-set argument. Gauff even alluded to that Swiatek loss while talking to Campistol and a supervisor who joined the conversation on the court Tuesday.
“It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time,” Gauff said, holding a tennis ball in one hand and her racket in the other while pleading her case. “This is like the fourth, fifth time it’s happened this year.”
Vekic did not get involved, staying at her end of the court and fiddling with her racket strings.
“It’s a very tricky situation. I personally thought the umpire made a good decision, because the call came quite late,” Vekic said when asked afterward about what happened. “But I’ll have to rewatch it. It’s tough to know exactly in the moment.”
When Gauff gave up and headed back on court to resume play, fans booed loudly — anger directed at the official.
The first point of the next game went Gauff’s way, and spectators cheered wildly for her.
But about 10 minutes later, the match was over.
Gauff was scheduled to head back out on court with U.S. teammate Taylor Fritz for a first-round mixed doubles match later Tuesday. She also is competing in women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula at these Olympics.
Over the weekend, Gauff spoke about aiming to leave with three medals — one from each of her events in Paris. That won’t happen now.
“I want to come home with something,” Gauff said Tuesday.

NewsCharith Asalanka had been appointed their T20I captain just before the ongoing series against India
Charith Asalanka is now Sri Lanka’s captain in both limited-over formats    SLC
Sri Lanka’s selectors have appointed Charith Asalanka as the new ODI captain, replacing Kusal Mendis. Asalanka had been named T20I captain as well, ahead of the ongoing series against India after Wanindu Hasaranga had resigned from the role following Sri Lanka’s early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The same set of selectors had appointed Mendis as the ODI captain in December 2023, though he had also led Sri Lanka in several matches in last year’s World Cup in an acting capacity. Though Mendis has been in good touch with the bat, and Sri Lanka won six of the eight completed ODIs under his leadership, the selectors opted to go in a different direction. Under Mendis’ captaincy Sri Lanka had won five consecutive home matches against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, but lost 2-1 away to Bangladesh.
Asalanka’s elevation to the T20I captaincy was expected following Hasaranga’s resignation, but a change in the ODI leadership was somewhat unexpected, largely because Mendis has not been in the position long. Nevertheless, Asalanka has been one of Sri Lanka’s more consistent ODI batters, averaging 43.59 with a strike rate of 90 across 52 innings.
Test batter Nishan Madushka, 24, has also been included in Sri Lanka’s squad for the three ODIs against India on August 2, 4 and 7, while the likes of Akila Dananjaya and Chamika Karunaratne receive recalls.
Seamers Dilshan Madushanka and Asitha Fernando, who were only added to the T20I squad after Dushmantha Chameera and Nuwan Thushara were ruled out, will stay on for the ODI series. Left-arm spinning allrounder Dunith Wellalage has also found a place.
The remainder of this squad is largely as expected. Illness continues to keep Chameera out, while a fractured thumb makes Thushara’s participation impossible. In addition to Madushanka and Asitha, Matheesha Pathirana is the only other specialist seamer. This is understandable given Khettarama stadium in Colombo, where the three matches will be played, tends to be spin-friendly. There is no room for Lahiru Kumara or Pramod Madushan, who had played in Sri Lanka’s most-recent ODI series, against Bangladesh.
On the spin-bowling front, Sri Lanka have plenty of options, between Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dananjaya and Wellalage. Kamindu Mendis and Asalanka himself can send down some part-time spin as well.
The top order seems fairly set. Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, and Mendis are likely to form the top three. Kusal Perera has not been included, despite some good T20 performances recently. Sadeera Samarawickrama, Janith Liyanage, and Kamindu are in the mix to be in the middle order. Captain Asalanka will likely bat at No. 5.
Charith Asalanka (capt), Pathum Nissanka, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamindu Mendis, Janith Liyanage, Nishan Madushka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Akila Dananjaya, Dilshan Madushanka, Matheesha Pathirana, Asitha Fernando
Andrew Fidel Fernando is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo. @afidelf