Coco Gauff smashed her racquet. What happened next is the real story.

Her exit was supposed to be the story.

Coco Gauff, usually the sport's most composed figure, had just lost her quarter-final match at the 2026 Australian Open to Elina Svitolina. It was a frustrating match where Gauff's serve deserted her and her timing felt a half-second off. 

But it wasn't the loss that had people talking. It was what happened in the tunnels of Melbourne Park shortly after.

Believing she was finally away from the crowd, the cameras, her team and her opponent, Gauff allowed herself a rare moment of frustration. She took her racquet and smashed it against the floor multiple times.

Watch: Coco Gauff on breaking her tennis racquet. Article continues after video.

It was a private moment of catharsis. It was supposed to be her own. Instead, a hallway camera captured the footage, and within hours, the headlines were screaming. News outlets described her as "losing her mind". The clip went viral, not as a moment of human frustration, but as a breakdown to be scrutinised by the masses.

The reaction has been, in a word, bizarre.

The sport has long been conditioned to accept — and, at times, even celebrate — the "fiery temperament" of male players.

We have watched Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer smash racquets on centre court in the heat of a set without their mental stability being questioned.

In this very same Australian Open, Djokovic became so enraged that he launched a ball that nearly struck a ball kid. When men do this, it is accepted as common practice, a byproduct of the high-stakes gladiator pit that is the ATP tour. 

Coco Gauff. Image: Getty.

But when a 21-year-old woman waits until she is off-court, away from her opponent's face, and behind closed doors to release that same energy, the narrative shifts. Suddenly, she's "unhinged".

Gauff's decision to wait was actually an act of profound emotional intelligence. She didn't want to disrespect Svitolina, and she didn't want to take her frustration out on the ball kids or the chair umpire. Most importantly, she didn't want to take it out on her coaches.

"I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room," Gauff said afterwards, addressing the leaked footage.

"I don't think it's a bad thing. Otherwise, I'm just going to be snappy with the people around me, and I don't want to do that, because like I said, they don't deserve it. They did their best. I did mine. Just need to let the frustration out."

There is a staggering double standard at play when a woman is criticised for managing her emotions better than the men who are justified in their outbursts. Gauff was protecting her team. She was protecting the integrity of the match. She was being a professional.

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Why is a woman showing a sliver of raw, human frustration considered a controversy, while a man's mid-match tantrum is warranted?

The story isn't that Coco Gauff smashed a piece of graphite and string. The story is our refusal to let female athletes be human.

We demand they be stoic icons or smiling losers, leaving no room for the white-hot competitive fire that got them to the top in the first place.

If we can handle a man shattering a racquet in front of 15,000 people, we can certainly handle a woman doing it in a hallway she thought was private. It's time to stop scrutinising female athletes for having a pulse.

Let women have their emotions. Better yet, let them have their privacy.

Feature Image: Getty.