Amanda Anisimova Feels Distressed Watching Coco Gauff’s Viral Racket Smash Clip at the Australian Open: “It’s Tough”
Elina Svitolina decimated Coco Gauff in straight sets to reach her maiden Australian Open semifinal, after which the American smashed her racket.
Follow Us
Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova (Image via Tennis TV)
🔍 Explore this post with:
The Happy Slam became a rather ‘Unhappy’ Slam for Coco Gauff, who experienced her worst loss in a Major after Elina Svitolina brutally defeated her 6-1, 6-2 in the Australian Open quarterfinal. Gauff, in fact, had more double faults than winners in the match, with 5 double faults and just 3 winners, compared to Svitolina’s 0 double faults and 12 winners.
After the match, Gauff went on to smash her rackets at a place where she presumed there were no cameras. However, that moment was aired, and Gauff later chastised broadcasters for disrespecting her privacy. Her compatriot Amanda Anisimova weighed in on the issue during her press conference after her Australian Open exit. She remarked that she was aware of the presence of cameras around:
You kind of know after a few days or 4 or 5 days that obviously you see on the internet you walking around. I knew that was there so I just kept my head down and went to the locker room. There are good moments obviously that people see, and that’s fun. When you lose there are probably not so good moments. I think the fact that the video of Coco that was posted, it’s tough because she didn’t have a say in that. But I think this deep down into the tournament I knew I didn’t have much privacy, so I just went to the locker room.
Anisimova, who had reached the finals of the last two Grand Slams, lost to compatriot Jessica Pegula 6-2, 7-6 in the quarterfinal in Melbourne. Pegula is into her maiden Australian Open semifinal and will meet 2023 finalist Elena Rybakina.
Analyzing Coco Gauff’s claims
Coco Gauff criticized broadcasters for airing this vulnerable moment of hers. She even cited Aryna Sabalenka’s example of smashing a racket after the Belarusian lost to her in the 2023 US Open final and stated that such moments should not be aired.
It is important to remember that Gauff smashed her racket in a public space where even two people who were passing by witnessed this incident in front of their eyes, as seen in the footage. The cameras were running even before she smashed her racket. Could this moment truly be considered a private one? The Australian Open continuously airs the behind-the-scenes moments of different players, a fact both fans and players are aware of.
As figures who depend on a strong social media branding and public presence to earn money, it is not just their good and successful moments that come to the limelight but also their negative moments in public.
It is not just the moments that they monetize or benefit from that will be out there in public. When someone chooses this path for themselves, every public moment of theirs will get attention. For better privacy, Gauff could’ve smashed her rackets in the locker room.
Several players at the Australian Open, such as Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek, have called out the intrusion of privacy after Gauff’s incident. From a humane point of view, the incident is quite distressing, and Gauff did not deserve that.
However, from a business point of view, she is the highest-paid female athlete in the world and one of the most marketable athletes. Along with sponsorships, follows the public attention. The Grand Slams are a big business. Broadcasters are there to make profit and perhaps saw nothing wrong in airing a public moment of an athlete breaking her racket, an incident that is fairly common in the sport.
Should the backstage cameras exist? That is a matter for players to ponder upon and unite against if they feel it is a severe intrusion on their privacy. However, in Gauff’s case, the fault seems to be more of her lack of emotional discipline and awareness about her surroundings than of anyone’s intrusion of her privacy at a public place.
/techfirstnow/media/agency_attachments/kATjCXskQdJKkXN0OuqW.png)