Coco Gauff slams officiating after stormy US Open win

NEW YORK – American teenager Coco Gauff slammed US Open officiating after battling to a stormy first-round victory over German veteran Laura Siegemund on Monday.

The 19-year-old sixth seed was forced to dig deep before winning 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in Arthur Ashe Stadium, while the ill-tempered clash was marked by angry confrontations by both players with chair umpire Marijana Veljovic.

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.

“I felt like the rules were being bent,” Gauff said. “That’s why a lot of players get mad when these time violations are called because one ref is letting them go over, the other is more strict on the time.

“I think tennis needs to be more strict on the rules for everybody regardless of every situation.”

Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert could also be heard repeatedly telling the teenager to raise the time-keeping issue with the umpire throughout the match.

The American said she eventually approached the umpire after she “reached a point where I was just really frustrated”.

“I try my best not to let my emotions to take over myself,” she added. “When it happens over and over, I’m not going to complain if it’s once or twice. It was at least seven times that I counted.”

When asked to describe the action on court, she replied “slow”, raising laughter from the crowd.

“It was a tough match, I wasn’t playing my best tennis. Laura, she’s not an easy opponent. She fights to the end and that’s what she did today,” she said.

“I was able to overcome a lot of adversity so I’m happy with how I managed to get through.”

Siegemund, 35, meanwhile slammed the partisan home crowd who had cheered her every error relentlessly. “I am very, very disappointed of the way the people treated me today,” she said.

“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.”

Siegemund also 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. “No doubt about it that I have to be quicker. But it’s how I play, I do it for me, I don’t do it against the (opponent).”

Gauff will next face a second-round duel with 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon. AFP, REUTERS