Coco Gauff had a really rough time overcoming Laura Siegemund at the 2023 US Open, not just because of her style of play, but also her disruptive tactics between points.
Gauff needed to come from behind to avoid following the rolling parade of top seeds falling on day one of the 2023 US Open. But she was unhappy with how her opponent Laura Siegemund carried herself throughout the match as the German took plenty of time in between points.
That certainly angered Gauff and the New York crowd. The American took matters into her hands and walked onto the chair umpire when her patience waned. She complained of Siegmeund's time-wasting tactics to the umpire that the German qualifier was never ready every time she was serving.
Speaking after the match, Gauff was relieved that Siegemund eventually received a time violation and a point penalty. With the chair umpire calling the score eight seconds after a point it felt like she was the one taking time on her serve, Gauff said.
"Yeah, I was really patient the whole match. She was going over the time since the first set. I never said anything. I would look at the umpire, and she didn't do anything. Then obviously the crowd started to notice that she was taking long, so you would hear people in the crowd yelling, Time, doing the watch motion."
"I was finally happy when the time violation came. But obviously, on my serve, I was like, She has to be ready when I'm serving. I'm not a fast server, but obviously, when you're calling the score eight seconds later, it looks like I'm serving 24 on the clock. Usually, I look at the clock and try to serve around the 14-, 15-second mark."
Gauff took notice of Sigemund's tactics right from the second game of the match. She got calls from her coaching team to report the matter to the chair umpire but felt midway through the second set when she had the upper hand, it would in a way disrupt her rhythm and instead persevered.
"I don't know. I do agree with them that I should have put more pressure on the referee a little bit earlier in the match, but I was also at the same time, I think when mostly they were telling me that was in the second set. That's when I was doing well, so I didn't want to break the momentum and everything."
Gauff admits she put the chair umpire in the thick of things to try and penalize Siegemund and play by the rules. She adds that the level of officiating should be the same regardless of the player.
"I mean, I think the pressure worked. Obviously, she gave those time violations after that. I don't know. I think the officiating needs to be the same regardless of the player."
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