Coco Gauff unhappy after racket smashing video at Australian Open goes viral
Coco Gauff has expressed her disappointment after video of her smashing her racket at the Australian Open was picked up on camera,The American was well below her usual high standards during her 6-1, 6-2 defeat by Elina Svitolina on Tuesday,Gauff had trouble with her forehand and serve throughout the match - she double-faulted five times in the first set alone – and hit 26 unforced errors to just three winners, losing in just 59 minutes,She also appeared to believe there was something wrong with her equipment as she struggled with her control, and had three of her rackets restrung in the opening set,After the match, the 21-year-old thought she had found some privacy to vent her frustration in a ramp away leading from Rod Laver Arena.
She smashed her racket against the concrete floor but the incident was picked up by a camera and video of the incident soon flooded social media,“I tried to go somewhere where there were no cameras,” Gauff told reporters,“I kind of have a thing with the broadcast,I feel like certain moments – the same thing happened to Aryna [Sabalenka] after I played her in the final of the US Open – I feel like they don’t need to broadcast,”World No 1 Sabalenka smashed her racket in a training area after her loss to Gauff at the 2023 US Open.
Footage of that incident also went viral after it was caught on camera.“I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn’t broadcast it, but obviously they did.Maybe some conversations can be had, because I feel like at this tournament the only private place we have is the locker room,” Gauff added.The 21-year-old said she prefers to take out her frustration on her equipment rather than her team.“I think for me, I know myself, and I don’t want to lash out on my team.
They’re good people,They don’t deserve that, and I know I’m emotional,” Gauff said,“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.
“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.”Gauff, the No 3 seed at this year’s Australian Open, was hoping to make the final in Melbourne for the first time, and she had won her two previous matches against Svitolina.
She is the reigning French Open champion but suffered a shock defeat in the first-round at last year’s Wimbledon and was knocked out in the fourth round of the US Open.Svitolina was in a more positive mood after reaching her first Australian Open semi-final, where she will face Sabalenka.The victory also guarantees she will return to the world top 10 for the first time since giving birth to her daughter, Skai.“After maternity leave, it was my dream to come back into the top 10,” she said.“Always been my goal.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen last year, I stopped after September [due to injury] and then when we were training in the off-season, I told my coach: ‘I want to come back to top 10 this year,’ so this was my goal this year.”Although Gauff and her compatriot, Iva Jović, lost their quarter-finals, the US is guaranteed a semi-finalist at this year’s tournament.Two Americans, Amanda Anisimova and Jessica Pegula, face each other in Wednesday morning’s quarter-final in Melbourne.Jović was easily beaten 6-3, 6-0 by Sabalenka, who has reached the semi-finals in 12 of her last 13 grans slam appearances and will be a formidable test for Svitolina.
Treasury announces business rate support package worth more than £80m a year – as it happened
The Treasury has unveiled a support package worth more than £80m a year for pubs and live music venues in England and Wales, in a climbdown that follows a fierce backlash against plans to overhaul business rates.Trade bodies had warned that Rachel Reeves’s changes to business rates, announced at the chancellor’s November budget, would trigger widespread closures and job losses in the hospitality sector, particularly in pubs.On Tuesday, the government announced financial support to mitigate the effect of the rates shake-up, after officials admitted that they had not foreseen its total financial impact.The package, final details of which were still being hammered out on Monday night, is expected to be worth more than £80m a year, over three years, for pubs and gig venues.Dan Tomlinson, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said every pub in England and Wales would get 15% off its new business rates bill from 1 April, worth an average of £1,650 for each
Pubs and live music venues to get support after business rates backlash
The Treasury has unveiled a support package worth tens of millions of pounds for pubs and live music venues in England and Wales, in a climbdown that follows a fierce backlash against plans to overhaul business rates.Trade bodies had warned that Rachel Reeves’s changes to business rates, announced at the chancellor’s November budget, would trigger widespread closures and job losses in the hospitality sector, particularly in pubs.On Tuesday, the government announced financial support to mitigate the effect of the rates shake-up, after officials admitted that they had not foreseen its total financial impact.The package, final details of which were still being hammered out on Monday night, is expected to be worth nearly £100m for pubs and gig venues.Dan Tomlinson, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said every pub in England and Wales would get 15% off its new business rates bill from 1 April, worth an average of £1,650 for each
How ICE is using facial recognition in Minnesota
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UK ministers accept $1m from Meta amid social media ban consultation
Ministers have accepted $1m (£728,000) from Meta, the US tech and social media company, to build AI systems for defence, national security and transport, sparking warnings about the UK government’s “alarmingly close relationship with Trump-supporting US tech giants”.The money from Mark Zuckerberg’s company will be used to pay experts to “develop cutting-edge AI solutions … to support national security and defence teams”, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) announced on Tuesday.The money will pay for four British AI experts, coordinated by the government-funded Alan Turing Institute, to “play a pivotal role in rewiring our healthcare, police, transport systems and more”, said Ian Murray, the minister for data and digital government.The move comes after Meta executives had 50 meetings with ministers in the last two years for which data was available, one of the highest levels of direct access of any technology company, a Guardian investigation found.The government is consulting on a ban on social media use by under-16s, which would have a major effect on Meta’s Instagram platform
Sri Lanka v England: third men’s cricket one-day international – live
Gone! Rashid lures Hasaranga into a chip which just isn’t timed. Duckett takes the catch as if he’d never dropped one a few minutes ago.41st over: Sri Lanka 263-7 (Rathnayake 94, Hasaranga 9) Hasaranga fancies this. Facing Curran, he plays himself in for two balls, then strokes a gorgeous off-drive on the up for four, folowed by a pull for four more. Eleven off the over!40th over: Sri Lanka 252-7 (Rathnayake 92, Hasaranga 0) Meanwhile Rathnayake motors on into the 90s
Elina Svitolina humbles Coco Gauff to set up Sabalenka semi in Australian Open
Coco Gauff is known across her sport for her mental toughness and problem-solving abilities, her tendency to grind out victories from unenviable positions. However, down 1-6, 0-3, 0-30 on Tuesday night and sinking quickly, the 21-year-old has rarely looked as helpless on a tennis court as when she expressed her despair to her support team: “She’s outdoing me in everything,” she said.This time, there was no way back for the third seed as Elina Svitolina ended a courageous, focused performance by securing the most significant result of the Australian Open so far, completely dismantling Gauff 6-1, 6-2 to reach her first semi-final in Melbourne.Svitolina, the 12th seed, will next face Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1 and two-time Australian Open champion. Earlier on Tuesday, Sabalenka dismantled the 29th seed Iva Jovic 6-3, 6-0 to reach her fourth consecutive semi-final here
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