Coco Gauff had every right” – Chris Evert appalled at umpire refusing to call supervisor despite American’s “respectful” request during Dubai 3R

Chris Evert was appalled by chair umpire Pierre Bacchi’s refusal to call his supervisor, despite Coco Gauff’s “respectful and clear” request during her third-round match at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships.Gauff made an impressive comeback to defeat Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, securing a spot in the quarterfinals in Dubai. However, the match was overshadowed by unexpected arguments during the second set when Gauff was serving at 4-2, looking to go up 5-2.

A controversial call by the chair umpire, Bacchi, in favor of Pliskova, caused tension. Despite Pliskova returning the serve into the net with ease, the umpire ruled Gauff’s serve ‘out’ at deuce.Frustrated by the decision, the World No. 3 challenged the call, which was ultimately proven to be ‘in’ by Hawk-Eye. However, the chair umpire refused to change his decision and did not award Gauff the point she rightfully earned and instead granted her another first serve.This decision further angered Coco Gauff, leading her to request that Pierre Bacchi call his supervisor so she could talk about the rules. However, Bacchi denied her request.

In light of this incident, 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert took to social media to express her appall and perplexity at Pierre Bacchi’s decision not to call his supervisor despite Gauff’s “respectful and clear” request.
“i can’t believe what I’m seeing. Coco had every right to see the supervisor, and her request was respectful and clear. What is wrong with him?” Evert posted on X (formerly Twitter)

i can’t believe what I’m seeing. Coco had every right to see the supervisor, and her request was respectful and clear. What is wrong with him?

During the post-match on-court interview following her victory against Karolina Pliskova at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships, Coco Gauff opened up about the argument she had with chair umpire Pierre Bacchi. She revealed that the argument actually “fueled” her and motivated her to win the match.

“I think it just fueled me. I wanna watch back the video. I feel confident that it was after,” Gauff said. “It’s okay. It’s just one point. It happens in tennis. Players make mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes… It kind of went upward from there for me.”
The World No. 3 also admitted that she may have prolonged the argument on the court, believing it was the right thing to do in that moment.
“You know, maybe I dragged it out a little longer then probably needed to, but you know, at the end of the day, I did what I felt was best in the moment,” Gauff said.

Coco Gauff’s campaign in Dubai ended in the quarterfinals when she was defeated 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 by Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya.