Coco Gauff defends 'emotional' racket slam following Australian Open loss: 'Just need to let the frustration out'

Coco Gauff has only once reached the semifinals at the Australian Open in her young career, and she was denied the opportunity to get back there in decisive fashion on Tuesday.

Gauff suffered a swift defeat at the hands of Elina Svitolina, falling 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals to exit the tournament earlier than she hoped.

After the loss, Gauff was seen taking out her frustrations on her racket, a moment she defended when she spoke to reporters following the match.

Here's a look at Gauff's racket slam and what she had to say about her emotions.

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Coco Gauff slams racket

Gauff slammed her racket in frustration several times following the loss to Svitolina, doing so away from the court but still in a position for cameras to capture the moment.

Racket smash Coco Gauff pic.twitter.com/ZRAGlIpzpQ

"I tried to go somewhere there are no cameras," Gauff said after the match, saying she vowed never to break her racket on the court again after a French Open loss because she doesn't "feel like that's a good representation."

Gauff was referencing a racket slam from 2021, when she was only 17 at the French Open. 

The 21-year-old implied she may look for a rule change regarding where cameras have access to players. "I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn't broadcast it, but obviously they did," she said. "So maybe conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker room."

Despite not wanting her frustrations to air publicly, Gauff said she doesn't believe smashing her racket is necessarily something she shouldn't do at all. "I do know I need to let out that emotion," she told reporters.

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Coco Gauff vs. Elina Svitolina

• Match score: Svitolina 6-1, 6-2

Gauff had an uncharacteristically rough performance in the loss to Svitolina, struggling with her serve and quickly going down with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat. 

The 21-year-old star said after the match that the nature of her loss fed into her frustrations, noting the score. The loss marked Gauff's second consecutive defeat in the Australian Open quarterfinals, as she fell to Paula Badosa in a more competitive match in 2025.

Svitolina, who is a decade older than Gauff, is semifinal-bound for the first time in her Australian Open career and the first time in a grand slam since 2023, with top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka her next challenger.