Coco Gauff: Tempers boil

The world No. 2 raced out to a 5-2 lead but Vekic, the tenacious 13th seed from Croatia, would not go away.

Gauff had set point, but Vekic, who seemed to come alive as it got hotter and hotter on the court, forced deuce – and capitalised with a screaming backhand.

Vekic would go on to win four of the next five games and in the tiebreak, saved two more set points to turn the tables on Gauff and go up a set on USA’s flag-bearer.

Gauff’s frustrations reached a boiling point in the second set when she went down 4-2. The 20-year-old appeared convinced the Spanish umpire was dead wrong about a decision, arguing passionately through a language barrier for close to 10 minutes.

The fans let Gauff know it was time to move on by booing her back into competition, but the damage was done as she could not claw her way back – as Vekic had to do in the first set.

Gauff barely had time to blow off steam as she had to regroup for her mixed doubles match in a few hours with Taylor Fritz.

“It’s all a blur,” she said, in fewer words than usual to most of the media, understandably so. “I’m looking forward to playing doubles and that’s all I’m focused on.”