The legendary Serena Williams joined tennis stars Iga \u015awi\u0105tek and Jessica Pegula in backing Coco Gauff after the U.S. tennis star was seen on video smashing her racket following her exit at the Australian Open. <\/p>\n
The discussion has occurred in the wake of cameras capturing Gauff smashing her racket while she was walking to the locker room following a 6-1, 6-2, loss to Elina Svitolina in quarterfinals: <\/p>\n
After Gauff’s moment of frustration went viral, the 21-year-old spoke out<\/a> against players being on camera even when off the court.<\/p>\n “Certain moments\u2014the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in the final of the U.S. Open\u2014I feel like they don’t need to broadcast,” Gauff said. “I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t necessarily like breaking rackets.<\/p>\n “I broke one racket [at the] French Open, I think, and I said I would never do it again on court because I don’t feel like that’s a good representation. So, yeah, maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room.”<\/p>\n Both \u015awi\u0105tek and Pegula, who played their quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, agreed with Gauff’s assessment.<\/p>\n Following a 7-5, 6-1, loss to Elena Rybakina, \u015awi\u0105tek told reporters<\/a>, “The question is, are we tennis players or are we, like, animals in the zoo where they are observed even when they poop, you know? OK, that was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to, I don’t know, have your own process and not always be, like, observed.”<\/p>\n