In Melbourne, Australia, Coco Gauff vented her frustration by smashing her racket on the concrete floor multiple times, following each instance she lost her serve during her quarterfinal match against Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Gauff, who is seeded third and has already claimed two major titles, faced significant challenges with her serve. In the opening set, she committed five double-faults and was broken on serve four times.

The struggles continued in the second set, with Gauff losing serve twice more. After a quick 59-minute match, she left the court, maintaining her composure while searching for a secluded spot to release her frustration.

Unfortunately, privacy is hard to come by at Rod Laver Arena, as cameras capture nearly every angle except for the locker rooms. As a result, her public display of frustration, striking her racket on a concrete ramp seven times, was witnessed by many following her 6-1, 6-2 loss.

During the post-match press conference, Gauff expressed her displeasure with the incident being filmed. “There are certain moments that shouldn’t be broadcast, similar to what happened with Aryna Sabalenka after our U.S. Open final,” she remarked. “I tried to find a spot without a camera because I don’t particularly enjoy breaking rackets.”

“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.”

Gauff hit just three clean winners across 15 games, made 26 unforced errors and won 2 of 11 points on her second serve. She got 74% of her first serves into play, but only won 41% of those points.

It was an usually bad day for a player who made her Grand Slam debut at 15 and won her first major, the 2023 U.S. Open, at 19. She’s still only 21.

Gauff said she felt it was better to shatter a racket than to take out any frustrations on her support team.

“They’re good people. They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional,” Gauff said. “So, yeah, I just took the minute to go and do that.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Like I said, I don’t try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that, but I do know I need to let out that emotion.”