‘No respect for me or tennis’: US Open star cries inconsolably after harsh treatment from crowd in Coco Gauff match

At 35, Laura Siegemund's only fault, if we are allowed to use that word in this context, was being 'slow' in her opening round US Open 2023 match against crowd favourite Coco Gauff at the Arthur Ashe. The German veteran was taking lot of time to get ready for Gauff's serves and was even given a time violation for that by chair umpire Marijana Veljovic. But things got heated in the third set. Already under the pump after losing the first set, Gauff, although leading 3-0 in the decider, had enough of it. She decided to have a heated argument with the umpire.

The topic of discussion was obviously Siegemund's pace or the lack of it. Gauff remonstrated with Veljovic at length during the third set, accusing the Serbian official of failing to properly enforce time violation rules against Siegemund.

Siegemund -- who was warned twice for slow play, eventually costing her a game in the final set -- also confronted Veljovic during a tetchy encounter.

Gauff later said she had snapped in frustration at Veljovic's perceived failure to crack down on Siegemund's pace of play.

Gauff ended up winning the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 2hr 50min. While the focus was on the youngster and her frustration, Siegemund was fighting a battle of her own. She was devastated by the treatment she received from the crowd.

After the match, the German broke down while slamming the partisan home crowd that had cheered her every error relentlessly throughout.

"I am very very disappointed of the way the people treated me today," she told reporters.

‘No respect for me, no respect for tennis’

"I'm a fighter. I never did anything against the audience, I stayed calm, not even a gesture against the audience. They had no respect for me, no respect for the way I played, no respect for the player that I am, they had no respect for good tennis."

Siegemund admitted she plays slowly but denied it was a tactic to unsettle her opponent.

"There's no doubt about it that I'm slow," she said. "There's no doubt about it that I have to be quicker. But it's how I play. But I do it for me, I don't do it against the (opponent)."

Siegemund fought back tears as she admitted the crowd reaction would make her think twice about playing the tournament in future.

"This kind of unfair, respectless behaviour towards the non-American player. I have only experienced it here on this court," she said.

"I won here two times. I left every minute of every game I played here, everything left out on the court. And this is how (they) treat me? To be treated like that? I will only come back because it's a Slam. For sure not because of the people and to give them a show."