American Coco Gauff suffered a defeat in the third round of the women’s singles event at the Olympics, losing to Croatia’s Donna Vekić 7-6, 6-2.
During the match, Gauff struggled with her serve, committing seven double faults compared to Vekić’s three. She also missed opportunities to break, converting only twice out of nine attempts, while Vekić succeeded four out of six times.
Vekić adopted a high-risk, high-reward approach on the clay courts, resulting in 39 unforced errors but offset by 18 forehand winners and 10 backhand winners. Gauff made 22 unforced errors with only four forehand winners and five backhand winners.
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Despite Gauff’s loss, there is still a possibility for the U.S. to win a medal in women’s singles, with Danielle Collins advancing to the quarterfinals after defeating Colombia’s Camila Osorio.
Currently ranked No. 2 in the world, Gauff remains a top player in the tennis circuit.
She has the opportunity to compete for two gold medals at the Olympics. She is paired with Tanner Fritz in mixed doubles, where they are scheduled to face Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Nadia Podoroska. Gauff is also participating in the women’s doubles event alongside Jessica Pegula, with whom she won their first-round match against Australia’s Daria Saville and Ellen Perez on Saturday.
Last month, Gauff claimed her first Grand Slam doubles championship at the French Open, held at the same venue as the Paris Olympics.
