"Arrogant, whiny & bitter" - Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins, Emma Navarro under fire from tennis journalist over controversial conduct at Paris Olympics

Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro have come under fire from tennis journalist Pete Bodo for their conduct at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The three Team USA stars were all embroiled in controversy during their respective exits from singles at the prestigious event.

Coco Gauff, who was one of the favorites to clinch a medal, crashed out of the singles event with a 7-6(7), 6-2 loss to Croatia's Donna Vekic in the third round. The clash was marred by the American's heated dispute with the chair umpire over a disputed line call. The World No. 2 broke down in tears over the umpire's refusal to replay the point, even accusing him of "cheating" her.

Danielle Collins, meanwhile, retired midway through her quarterfinal matchup with Iga Swiatek due to injury, with the Pole leading 6-1, 2-6, 4-1 at the time. After expressing her annoyance with the World No. 1's 'disruptive' tactics during the contest, Collins also urged Swiatek not to be "insincere" about her injury, citing her dislike for "fakeness."

Emma Navarro had a similarly heated exchange with Zheng Qinwen after their tense third-round clash. While exchanging handshakes at the net, the 23-year-old conveyed her lack of respect for Zheng as a competitor, accusing the Chinese star of "cut-throat" behavior.

Coco Gauff, Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro's contentious behavior at the Paris Olympics rubbed tennis journalist Pete Bodo the wrong way. He asserted that while Team USA's women's tennis lineup initially seemed appealing, they had ultimately shown themselves to be "arrogant, whiny and bitter."

Bodo also suggested that the American players may have fueled each other's negative behavior.

"I'd love to say "I hate to say it," but I won't because I believe it: the US women tennis players at these Olympics - previously so appealing - have come off as alternately arrogant, whiny, and bitter. Maybe they just fired each other up, and not in a good way," he posted on X.

Bodo then clarified that he didn't equate Gauff's outburst with Collins and Navarro's transgressions but lamented that her "unnecessary explosion" had ruined her chances of winning an Olympic medal.

"I agree with that. Really, my only point with Coco is that she torpedoed her own chances with an unnecessary explosion. Be different if she won," he commented further.

Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins crash out of Paris Olympics doubles after singles exit

Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins will return home without medals, having both crashed out of the doubles events after their singles exit at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Gauff entered the women's doubles draw as the top seed alongside Jessica Pegula, with the duo claiming a dominant 6-3, 6-1 win over the Australian duo of Daria Saville and Ellen Perez in their opening match. However, their campaign was derailed in the second round, in a narrow 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 loss to the Czech pair of Linda Noskova and Karolina Muchova.

Coco Gauff also teamed up with Taylor Fritz for the mixed doubles event. The pair took on Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski in a blockbuster second-round clash, with the Canadian pair claiming a hard-fought 7-6(2), 3-6, 10-8 victory to oust the Americans from the event.

Danielle Collins, meanwhile, joined forces with Desirae Krawczyk for a shot at the women's doubles gold. The Ukrainian twin sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok claimed a 3-6, 6-4, 10-7 win over the American duo in the second round.