Coco Gauff’s debut at the Paris Olympics came to a swift conclusion on Wednesday as she lost both her women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches, following a tearful exit in the singles just a day earlier.
Teaming up with U.S. compatriot Jessica Pegula, the top-seeded women’s doubles pair faced off against the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova. Despite a strong start, Gauff and Pegula were eliminated in the second round after losing 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 in a match tiebreaker. In the evening, Gauff partnered with Taylor Fritz in the mixed doubles, where they suffered another defeat at the hands of Canada’s Gabby Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime, losing 7-6 (2), 3-6, 10-8.
Earlier in the tournament, Gauff had been defeated by Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the third round of singles. The 20-year-old American, seeded second, lost in straight sets, with the match marked by a disagreement between Gauff and the chair umpire regarding an officiating decision near its conclusion.
The abrupt end to Gauff’s Olympic journey is particularly striking given her role as a U.S. flag bearer during the opening ceremony on Friday. Just days prior, she expressed hope of returning from Paris with three medals, but ultimately ended her participation with three defeats.
Gauff’s Olympic experience was long awaited; she had qualified for the Tokyo Games at age 17 but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 just before her flight to Japan. This time, she arrived in France as one of the most prominent figures in tennis.
She claimed her first Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open last September and recently secured her first major doubles championship at the French Open in June. However, that victory came with partner Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, as Pegula was sidelined due to injury.
Gauff also made headlines by reaching the singles final at the French Open in 2022, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. The tournament is held annually at Roland Garros, which also served as the venue for tennis events in the Paris Games.
Muchova, who had been a runner-up to Swiatek at the French Open last year, reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open before losing to Gauff in a match interrupted for 50 minutes by a climate protest. After undergoing wrist surgery and missing ten months of play, Muchova returned to competition in June.
Wednesday’s doubles match faced a rain delay just before Noskova served for the second set with the Czechs leading 5-4. Once play resumed, they won the set and dominated the match tiebreaker, which is used in place of a traditional third set for all Olympic doubles matches.
“Honestly, sometimes 10-point tiebreakers are a little unlucky,” Pegula commented after the match. “They played pretty much the perfect tiebreaker.”
The match concluded with a volley winner from the 19-year-old Noskova, who achieved her biggest career milestone earlier this year by defeating Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open, making her the first teenager to beat a No. 1-ranked woman at Melbourne Park since 1999.
“I was just standing there, letting her play,” Muchova said with a laugh about her partner, “and that’s how we won.”
