It has just been 2 days since the US Open began but the Arthur Ashe Stadium has already seen some drama. Title favorite Coco Gauff took on Laura Siegemund in the first round but things took a dramatic turn in the third set. Siegemund was eventually booed off by the crowd for her antics during the match.
Gauff staged a brilliant comeback after losing the opening set to Laura. However, the German expressed her unhappiness at Gauff’s apparent fast-paced serves. Siegemund also got into a verbal match with the umpire, for being told off for wasting time between points.
The German had already been warned for violating the service time. In the third set, Gauff complained to the umpire when Laura took too long to get ready for Coco’s serves.
Coco Gauff had a word with the chair umpire after Laura Siegemund was slow to get ready on her serves 🗣️
Gauff beat Siegemund to advance to the second round of the US Open 😎
(via @espn)
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 29, 2023
Tensions ran high throughout the match and the drama culminated with both players sharing a ‘frosty handshake’ at the net. Gauff shook hands with the match official, but Siegemund ignored the umpire completely.
Fans took notice of this behavior and took to social media to express their disappointment with Siegemund. A fan also stated that “Siegemund is a sore loser.”
Restating the obvious: Siegemund is a sore loser; embarrassed herself whining at the post-match interview; too old/slow to compete at this level; irrelevant as she’s now out.
— David Campbell 🏳️🌈 🇺🇦 (@campbellde) August 29, 2023
Not sure why she didn’t shake the umpire’s hand. Umpire let her break the rules for most of the match. I guess the umpire finally doing her job was too much for Siegemund. 🤷♂️
— Unpresidentedpuppet 🇺🇦✊🏿 (@unpresidented78) August 29, 2023
Laura’s snubbing of the umpire’s handshake was met with even more boos from the crowd. The player later broke down during the interview, feeling she had been hard done by the crowd. The match umpire, too, was not spared by Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert.
Brad Gilbert, coach of Coco Gauff, rebukes the umpire over the time-violation controversy
Laura Siegemund was slapped with a fine for time violations during the match against Coco Gauff. Siegemund took her sweet time to serve, as the clock wound down to zero. But things took a drastic turn in the third set when Gauff was leading 3-0.
Siegemund was finally slapped with a time violation when she walked off to get her towel. This saw Gauff’s score go up 5-1 in the deciding set. The fine got a visceral reaction from Siegemund herself, who got into an argument with the umpire.
Brad Gilbert, who is a part of Coco’s coaching staff, took to social media to make his opinions known. He wrote how he was surprised and labeled the whole incident ‘ridiculous.’
I don’t like to vent to often, was so surprised 😮 that umpire would not call time violation when player was consistently not having toss in the air well past zero sometimes 10-15 seconds past after 3 ball rally was beyond ridiculous,finally a time violation in 3rd set
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) August 29, 2023
Coco Gauff has been in splendid form in the lead-up to the US Open and is one of the contenders for the title. She will lock horns with Mirra Andreeva in the next round.