Laura
Siegemund experienced controversy during the match against Coco Gauff at the US
Open, and Twitter users recalled a similar situation in 2016.
After successfully
navigating the qualifiers, the German tennis player was drawn against the sixth
seed, Coco Gauff, and began the match by winning the first set. However,
Gauff's comeback allowed the American to claim the match with a score of 3-6,
6-2, 6-4.
The
controversy arose when Gauff was serving with a score of 3-0, 40-40 in the
third set. The 19-year-old tennis player scored an ace, but Siegemund gestured
that she wasn't ready yet, and the chair umpire agreed, sparking Gauff's
frustration as she had executed a strong first serve.
Back in
2016, Siegemund defeated Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the first round of
the Madrid Open with a score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. On that occasion, Lucic-Baroni
posted on Facebook about the non-handshake incident involving the German tennis
player.
“I started
playing tennis long time ago and have been in many situations on and off the
court that were tough but I have never in all my years seen behavior like this!
My opponent calls a trainer 3 X goes to the bathroom twice , stops play in the
middle of games to ask for more treatment (coincidentally it happens when I'm
winning), takes ridiculous amount of time between points and screams like an
animal on every single mistake of mine,” Lucic–Baroni said.
“So no, it
was not bad sportsmanship on my side. Oh! And this happens every single time! Unacceptable!
Love and light my friends!,” she added.
Some
players like Svetlana Kuznetsova and Sesil Karatantcheva expressed their
support on social media on that occasion.
“I totally
agree with you!!! Happened the same on my match!!! Way to go!!!!” wrote
Kuznetsova.
“Oh girl u
are being wayy too nice. Same happened to me at the french and let me tell u -
at the end i wanted to drag her ass out side and beat the shit out of her. Soo
u not shaking her hand actually is very sportsmanship like! This behavior is
not what this sport is about. If she wants to act she should go to hollywood.
Respect to u!” Karatancheva added.