Coco Gauff’s US Open opponent Laura Siegemund is reduced to tears in her press conference after teenage star turned the crowd against her with her furious complaints about slow play
- Siegemund was given one time penalty before Gauff’s frustrations took over
- The American argued with the chair umpire as the crowd cheered her protests
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Laura Siegemund was reduced to tears in her post-match press conference at the US Open after a falling out with Coco Gauff during the pair’s first round match.
Home favourite Gauff beat the German 3-6 6-2 6-4 in the States but the win didn’t come without controversy, with things escalating in the final set.
With Gauff leading 3-0 in the final set, she expressed frustration with her opponent apparently taking a long time to get ready to receive serve, approaching the umpire to complain to a chorus of boos from the crowd.
‘She’s never ready when I’m serving,’ Gauff could be heard saying. ‘She went over the clock like four times and you gave her a time violation once. How is this fair?’
Gauff continued to express her frustrations, arguing that Siegemund shouldn’t have taken the time she took to receive serve after ‘two balls’, with the protests ending in the crowd cheering.
Laura Siegemund (pictured) was reduced to tears in her US Open press conference after a clash with Coco Gauff in the duo’s first round game
Gauff complained to the chair umpire to complain about Siegemund taking a long time to prepare to face her serve in the final set as frustrations boiled over
‘I don’t care what she’s doing on her serve,’ Gauff finished. ‘On my serve, she has to be ready.’
After the game, Siegemund broke down in her post match press conference, claiming she was treated as ‘a bad person’.
She said: ‘They treated me like I was a bad person. Would I enjoy it more if you played a great shot and people screamed and gave you the respect you deserve for your performance in that moment? Yes, you enjoy it more.
‘I’m 35. What do I play tennis for? I made good money, I’m probably not going to reach my best rankings anymore. I play out there for the people, for the effort.
‘I can still play. My body is giving me the chance to play a little bit more and I know there are fans out there that appreciate fighting and not giving up and just good sport.’
Siegemund claimed that she plays for the people before going onto criticise the hostile crowd
Gauff is one of the favourites to win the competition in what would be her first major victory
She then began to cry as she continued: ‘I think this is the first time I am crying in a press conference. I thought as a tennis player you are a performer. You owe the people, you owe the kids that watch, you owe the people that buy tickets for a lot of money.
‘At the end of the day I go home and I look at myself and I can say I did a great job, but did I get anything from the people for that? I didn’t.’
‘Maybe it’s not zero, but maybe it feels pretty much like a flat zero right now. Even less than zero because they treated me bad, like I was a cheater, like I was trying sneaky ways to win the match or something.
‘There are people who throw rackets, who are screaming, who are making bad gestures towards the audience and not one moment in the whole match did I do anything, I was just slow.’
Siegemund claimed that she got what ‘felt pretty much like a flat zero’ from the crowd
British No1 Katie Boulter (pictured) is through to the second round after a comfortable victory over Diane Parry
Siegemund had argued with the chair umpire earlier in the game and the crowd eventually turned against her later on.
Gauff, meanwhile, is among the favourites to win the title in front of her home crowd next month.
She will have to beat the likes of Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka – as well as Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova – if she is to do so, but many feel it’s a great chance for the 19-year-old to win her first major.
Gauff will take on Mirra Andreeva in the second round in New York as the competition continues, while British No1 Katie Boulter is also in the second round after beating Diane Parry 6-4 6-0.