"I can show you how to demolish in one swipe": Serena Williams defends Coco Gauff after Australian Open outburst
WTAWednesday, 28 January 2026 at 20:04
Serena Williams came out in defence of Coco Gauff following the images of the American smashing her racquet in the locker room after her quarter-final defeat at the Australian Open. The world No. 3 was beaten in just 59 minutes by Elina Svitolina, in a match in which Gauff was barely able to salvage three games in total.
It was perhaps the biggest surprise of the quarter-finals, after the Ukrainian world No. 12 reached the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time in her career. Gauff, for her part, delivered a performance to forget: she won just 41% of points on her first serve and 18% on her second serve, and totalled 26 unforced errors and only three winners.
The post-match images were the ones that truly stole the spotlight. In the hours following her elimination, a frustrated Gauff was seen arriving in the locker room and smashing a racquet, striking it repeatedly and showing all of her frustration after a poor performance. Television cameras captured the moment inside the locker rooms at Rod Laver Arena, where Gauff hit her racquet against a concrete ramp up to seven times.
“Certain moments — the same thing happened to Aryna (Sabalenka) after I played her in the final of the U.S. Open — I feel like they don’t need to broadcast. I tried to go somewhere where I thought there wasn’t a camera because I don’t necessarily like breaking racquets,” the two-time Grand Slam champion said later in press conference.
“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.”
Images of Gauff breaking her racquet go viral as unexpected support emerges
While the images of Gauff breaking her racquet went around the world and sparked debate on social media, the world No. 3 received unexpected support. Serena Williams’ husband, Alexis Ohanian, took to social media to express his support for the 21-year-old and to argue that athletes need certain spaces of privacy, away from the cameras.
“NGL I love this energy and emotion from @CocoGauff — we love sports because it’s raw, because these athletes put their ALL into the battle and sometimes (like life) you don’t win. Media are gonna spin this private moment for a headline to get some clicks, but Coco did nothing wrong here.”
Hours later, it was former world No. 1 Serena Williams who joined the supportive comments made by her husband and the father of her two daughters. The 23-time Grand Slam champion reposted Ohanian’s opinion and assured that she can show her compatriot “how to demolish in one swipe” next time.
“Well said. @alexisohanian Passion. Caring. Matters. Nothing wrong with hating to lose,” Serena Williams wrote. “Now Coco when you want I can show you how to demolish in one swipe… Serena style.”
Ranking consequences and what comes next for Coco Gauff
Gauff’s quarter-final defeat will cause her to lose a couple of positions in the rankings. From No. 3, she will drop to No. 5, losing her place as American No. 1 and falling behind Amanda Anisimova and the winner of the semi-final between Rybakina and Pegula.
Gauff has six appearances at the Australian Open, with a 20–7 record and her best result coming in 2024, when she reached the semi-finals. This time, she matched her 2024 result and will now have to regroup ahead of the upcoming challenges at the WTA 1000 Qatar Open and Dubai Open — two good opportunities to recover points and rebuild confidence, considering that she is not defending points in the Middle East.
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- I'm amazed at the freedom cameras have on courts as well. In the past, cross-court cameras were vividly showing what amounted to "upskirts" as women sat on their respective benches. The players resorted to placing towels between or over their legs. A practice still in play today. Same with camera's habits of basically zooming-in on down-blouse shots. That seems to have lessened; at least no more zooming-in as they bend forward prepping to face an opponent's serve. In addition, the invasion of privacy during medical treatment on-court is absurd. As are the in-your-face close-ups of players at their bench. If I were seeking a moment to concentrate or simply relax between games I'd trash that camera in a nanosecond.
- Talking about that situation with the American Dictator is one thing. Taking action is another. When is both the ATP and WTA is going to hand down punishment to the American athletes like they did with the Russians and Belarusians?, They took no time mixing sports with politics when it came to Ukraine. Right now, it is showing that the sport of tennis is actually controlled by the American Government. That is why there is so much Corruption going on.
- PLACED IN THE SEMIS IS RIGHT. BECAUSE UNLIKE ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS, PEGULA IS NEVER GIVEN ANY QUALITY OPPONENTS IN HER SECTION OF THE DRAW. THEREFORE IT HELPS HER TO GO DEEP INTO THE DRAWS. BY THE TIME SHE MEETS UP WITH A QUALITY OPPONENT, HER OPPONENT IS EXHAUSTED FROM THE PREVIOUS MATCH. IT IS CALLED DRAW FIXING. AND THAT AMERICAN BACK WTA IS FULL OF CORRUPTION. AND HAS RUINED WOMEN TENNIS. PEGULA DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE BODY BUILD TO LIFT A TROPHY. THEREFORE THEY DO WHAT AMERICANS DO BEST. IF YOU CANNOT EARN IT, CHEAT AND STEAL IT.
- THERE IS NOTHING TO TELL HER. AS USUAL, THE DRAWS WERE DESIGNED TO HELP PEGULA LIFT THE TROPHY. UNLIKE, EVERYONE ELSE ALL PEGULA OPPONENTS CAME OFF OUT OF THE JUNIOR SECTION.
- That is what is called an Old School spanking. And it is not surprising. Svitolina played during the time when women tennis was at its best. She was considered a dark horse, who gave Serena and many of the other good players problems at that time. Gauff knew that she had to play tennis before she came out there, because Svitolina was not going to hit all those unforced errors and hand her the match, like her previous opponents. Back in the day, not only did you have to know how to play tennis, but you also had to THINK on the court. Something that has left women tennis altogether. That is why she was hitting the majority of those balls away from Gauff, because she knew that she could not out rally her. Which confused Gauff and broke her down.
- SVITOLINA GAVE HER AN OLD SCHOOL SPANKING. SHE DIDN'T GET OUT THERE AND LOOK LIKE GAUFF PREVIOUS OPPONENTS AND HAND HER THE MATCH WITH LOADS OF UNFORCED ERRORS, WHICH IS THE ONLY WAY GAUFF EVER WIN A MATCH. SVITOLINA DID NOT PLAY THAT ONE DIMENSIONAL CRAP TENNIS THAT THE NEW GENERATION IS USED TO. YOU CANNOT RALLY GAUFF, SO SHE HIT THE BALL AWAY FROM HER AND MAINTAINED HER SERVE. IT IS CALLED STRATEGY AND THINKING ON COURT. SOMETHING THAT HAS LEFT WOMEN TENNIS ALTOGETHER. EVEN GAUFF NEW TATIC OF LEAVING THE COURT AFTER LOSING THE FIRST SET, DID NOT WORK. AFTER THE MATCH SHE WENT TO THE BACK BEAT HER RACKET UP AND CRIED AS USUAL AFTER A LOSS. AT LEAST SOMEONE HAS TAUGHT HER TO DO HER MELTDOWNS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. THE CAMERA JUST HAPPENS TO CATCH HER OUTBURST THIS TIME.
- AT LEAST SOMEONE HAS TAUGHT HER TO DO HER SORE LOSING MELTDOWNS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. THE CAMERA JUST HAPPENS TO CATCH HER OUTBURST THIS TIME.
- Haven't seen such a dreadful display of two-way tennis in quite some time.
- No recreational drug tests??
- You are so confused lately.
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