Coco Gauff’s 2026 Australian Open act is still making headlines even after the completion of the tournament. The World No. 5 was in impressive form before she faced the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals on the Rod Laver Arena. She lost the match in straight sets in just under an hour, ending her hopes of a third Grand Slam.
Right after the match, she went off-court to smash her racket, only for the fans to criticize her for not going to the locker room if she wanted privacy. During a recent podcast, Jessica Pegula defended Gauff and gave two reasons why Gauff’s actions were correct, explaining why she did not go to the locker room.
Jessica Pegula Defends Fellow American Coco Gauff After Criticism on Racket Smashing
After her quarterfinal loss to Svitolina, Gauff couldn’t control her emotions as she went off-court, thinking she was off-camera as well, and took her frustration out on her racket. She smashed it multiple times on the hard floor, breaking it down, which was caught on the security cameras. This clip was leaked on the internet, and it immediately went viral on social media, even before the post-match press conference.
However, fans had one suggestion for Gauff: that she should have gone to the locker room if she did not want it to get captured on a camera. The American No. 6 Pegula saw this and explained why Gauff made the right decision by keeping it off the court and not in the locker room.
On the recent episode of The Players’ Box podcast, Pegula said,
“I saw the comments, everyone’s like, ‘Well, why didn’t you just go to the locker room?’ Why would you go to the locker room and do that? That would have been so, first of all,
awkward, like, there’s carpet. What are you going to smash it into? A wall? Like, into a locker and then damage the locker room? There’s people in there,” stating the most logical reason behind not going to the locker room.
She then added, “I also think it’s like you’re trying to have a moment to yourself. You don’t go into the locker room and then make everyone else feel really uncomfortable because you are having a like a mini meltdown. Like you’re entitled to do that in your own space.”
She then reflected on one such incident from her career, where she was looking for a personal space, and what happened after that. “Fort Worth, I went into the stairwell, and I just like smashed a racket after I lost, and no one saw me, but everybody could hear it ’cause it echoed really bad, and they’re like, ‘Jess is in there doing some damage.'”
This single incident sparked debates about player privacy when they are in tournaments. Many top players spoke against the organizers, calling them out for having the players on camera for almost the entire time. Gauff felt that she was on camera the entire time, and the only safe space she had was the locker room.
After her quarterfinal loss to Elena Rybakina, Świątek stated, “Are we tennis players or are we animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop?” emphasizing that “it would be nice to have some privacy.”
The 10-time Australian Open champion, Novak Djokovic, also spoke against the critical issue of player privacy, stating that he understands the frustration that can lead to emotional outbursts after difficult matches. He expressed surprise that the cameras do not extend to the shower facilities, underlining how frustrating it can be for multiple top players to deal with such situations.
