US Open star bursts into tears and launches ‘cheater’ rant after Gauff defeat
Laura Siegemund blasted the gang on the US Open for making her really feel “like a cheater” throughout her first-round loss to Coco Gauff. The world No 6 complained to the umpire when she thought Siegemund was taking too long in between points, with the followers on Arthur Ashe Stadium booing the German qualifier. Siegemund broke down in tears afterwards and regarded boycotting the event.
Gauff received her US Open marketing campaign off to a profitable begin on Monday night time, coming from a set right down to defeat Siegemund 3-6 6-2 6-4. There was some drama in the course of the match when {the teenager} approached chair umpire Marijana Veljovic to complain in regards to the 35-year-old slowing down her service video games, and the world No 121 was finally hit with a time violation.
The German additionally ended up approaching the umpire and claiming the sixth seed was taking part in “unreasonably fast” because the followers booed her. After the match, Siegemund burst into tears throughout her press convention as she launched a rant on the crowd. “I am very, very disappointed with the way the people treated me today,” the previous world No 27 stated.
“I am a fighter, I never did anything against the audience. I stayed calm. I never made not even a gesture against the audience. And they had no respect for me. They had no respect for the way I played. They have no respect for the player that I am. They have no respect for tennis, for good tennis. This is something that I have to say hurts really bad.”
Siegemund additionally addressed the time she took between factors, saying it was simply how she performed. The qualifier added: “There is no doubt that I am slow. There is no doubt about that. I’m getting time violations. There is no doubt about that I should be quicker…but at the same time, it’s how I play. I’m very slow. I do it for me, I don’t do it against the other one.
“Clapping when you miss the first serve, those kinds of things, I have no understanding for it. I was very disappointed. I thought I went out there, I have a great time on Ashe, I have to say I did not have a good time. That was just [because] of the audience. Of course I am disappointed to lose the match but I am disappointed how they treated me out there.”
“This kind of behaviour, respectless behaviour to a non-American player I have only experienced on this court. To treat the opponent like this, it’s no good for tennis.” The 35-year-old lifted the US Open blended doubles trophy in 2016 and the ladies’s doubles crown in 2020, and stated the followers didn’t need to see her black in Flushing Meadows.
She added: “I won here two times, every minute of every game I’ve played here, [I leave] everything out on the court and this is how they treat me? In a match like that? Full stadium. Against Coco, who won two tournaments recently. And that’s the kind of performance I play? That’s why I play tennis. But to be treated like that. I mean, I would only come back because this is a Slam. But for sure, not for the people, to give them a show. If they are like this, they don’t deserve a show.”
Bursting into tears, Siegemund stated she was made to really feel like she had been dishonest simply because she was sluggish. “What do I play tennis for? I play for the people, I play for the effort. I know there are fans that appreciate fighting and not giving up and good sport. I think this is the first time I have cried in a press conference,” she continued.
“They treated me bad. They treated me like I was a cheater. Like I was trying sneaky ways to win this match or something. They treated me like I was a bad person. But you know there are people who are throwing rackets , who are screaming, who are like making bad gestures toward the audience. I did not one moment in the whole match, and there was a lot of tension going on. Not one moment I did anything. I was just slow. That’s something in the rules, I get my time violation, that’s fine.”
But the world No 121 refuted the concept that the hostile crowd had affected her sport after dropping to Gauff from a arrange. “They just want to push you down, they want the other one to win so bad they want to do anything to push you down. They want to get your in head. They didn’t. Is it nice? No, but it’s not affecting my game. But after you think about your experience when you calm down and what happened out there and it just makes me sad,” she defined.