Coco Gauff berated Laura Siegemund to the chair umpire for her time-wasting antics when she was getting ready to serve, which eventually landed the German in hot water.
Gauff produced a gutsy performance under the lights inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on a night when a diverse list of glitterati came to watch the first night session of the 2023 US Open. Gauff recovered from a set down to beat the unorthodox Siegemund 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to advance into the second round.
However, the match was full of twists and turns and contentious moments, which ended with a frosty handshake between the two players. As she left the court, Siegemund refused to shake hands with the umpire Marijana Veljovic who handed her a point penalty late in the third set.
Gauff felt that Siegemund was disrupting her rhythm by running down the shot clock and stalling between points. After persisting for two and a half sets, the American had enough of Siegemund's delay tactics when the German was unprepared to receive while Gauff was serving 3-0, 40-40 in the third set.
"She went over the clock four times, and you only gave her a time violation once. How is this fair? You're calling the score after the point is over, it's not like we're playing one point. You're calling the score in like six seconds after the point is over. She's never ready. It's not like we're having 34 rallies, it's two balls and she's going (to the towel)."
"I'm going at a normal speed. Ask any ref here, I'm going at a medium pace speed. She can't...every single point. I didn't say anything, but now it's ridiculous. I don't care what she's doing on her serve, but my serve she has to be ready. Okay."
Gauff ranted and raved, but she was certainly right in this case. Many times during Siegemund's serve, the time clock ticked down to zero and Gauff was always ready and didn't say a word. Siegemund had only received a single time violation at that point, and Gauff's complaints certainly pressured the umpire to abstain from any sort of leniency toward the German qualifier.
When Gauff was about to serve for a 5-1 lead, Siegemund was hit with another time violation and a point penalty. This time, it was Siegemund's turn to walk towards the chair umpire to defend herself.
It was unclear what the 36-year-old was trying to say as the crowd booed her. She managed to resuscitate her composure, but her short-lived comeback did not materialize as Gauff eked out the third set 6-4.
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