Coco Gauff Slammed A US Open Umpire After This On-Court Controversy
The US Open had just begun and there was drama already on the court already. Coco Gauff’s umpire video is making the rounds on social media and people are talking.
The US Open Tennis Championship is an annual tennis tournament that consists of five main competitions: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles. The tournament—which is held in Queens, New York and runs for two weeks between late August and early September—is one of the four major annual professional tennis tournaments that make up the Grand Slam.
The other three Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open in January; the French Open from late May to Early June; and Wimbledon from late June to early July. The Australian Open and US Open are played on hard courts, the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on the grass.
The top professional tennis players to look out for during the US Open include Serbia’sNovak Djokovic, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, but all eyes were on US player Coco Gauff in round one on August 28, 2023, when she butted heads with an umpire.
Coco Gauff’s umpire video
In Coco Gauff’s umpire video, she grew increasingly frustrated that time rules weren’t being enforced against her opponent, Laura Siegemund during the third set of what would result in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 match.
After Gauff held a 3-0 lead in the final set Gauff protested when Siegemund put her arms up to signal that she wasn’t quite ready for Gauff’s serve and the umpire honored her request. “She’s never ready when I’m serving, she went over to talk like four times, you only gave her a time violation once, how is this fair?” Gauff said. “No, you’re calling the score after the point is over, it’s not like we’re playing long points. You’re calling the score like six seconds after the point is over!”
She continued: “You have missed her like four times. She’s never ready! It’s not like we’re having, like 30-ball rallies. It’s two balls…I’m going at a normal speed! Ask any ref here, I go at a medium-pace speed,” Gauff said. “She can’t [go back] every single point. And everybody in this crowd knows I’ve been quiet this whole match…That first set, it was like every point. I didn’t say nothing, but now it’s ridiculous. I don’t care what she’s putting on her serves, on my serves she has to be ready.”
ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe agreed with Gauff’s frustrations. “She’s 100 percent right,” he said. As the No. 123-ranked player from Germany, Siegemund had consistently been using up all of her time when she served and even earned a time violation warning during the third set.
Gauff reflected on the confrontation later on Twitter: “If I could do it all over again, I would’ve said something earlier, maybe on a changeover.. other than that I don’t regret talking to the ref the way I did. I actually watched the video when I was taking an ice bath bc I wanted to make sure before I came in here. Sometimes you have these emotions & you forget what you said. I’d still say everything I said in that moment again,” she wrote.
Siegemund, meanwhile, expressed disappointment in how she was treated by the crowd, who after the confrontation with the umpire, booed and cheered when she faulted. “I am very, very disappointed with the way the people treated me today,” said Siegemund afterward in the press conference. “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.
“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. This kind of behavior, 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,” Siegemund concluded.
US Open 2023 Schedule
See the full US Open 2023 schedule below, including when the finals air.
August 28, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 1st Round
- 7 p.m. Men & Women’s Singles 1st Round
August 29, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 1st Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 1st Round
August 30, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 1st Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 2nd Round
August 31, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 2nd Round + Men’s & Women’s Doubles 1st Round
- 7 p.m. Men’s & Women’s Singles 2nd Round
September 1, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 3rd Round + Men’s & Women’s Doubles 2nd round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 3rd Round
September 2, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 3rd Round + Men’s & Women’s Doubles 2nd Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Singles 3rd Round
September 3, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Round of 16 & Men’s & Women’s Doubles 3rd Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Round of 16
September 4, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s & Women’s Round of 16 & Men’s & Women’s Doubles 3rd Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Round of 16
September 5, 2023
- 12 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinals; Men’s & Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals; Quad Wheelchair Singles 1st Round + Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Singles 1st Round
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinals
September 6, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Women’s Doubles Quarterfinals; Quad Wheelchair Singles Quarterfinals + Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Singles Quarterfinals
- 12 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinals
- 7 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Quarterfinals
September 7, 2023
- 11 a.m. – Men’s Doubles Semifinals; Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Doubles Semifinals + Quad Wheelchair Doubles Semifinals
- 7 p.m. – Women’s Semifinals
September 8, 2023
- 12 p.m. – Men’s Doubles Final (or Mixed Doubles Final); Women’s Doubles Semifinals; Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Singles Semifinals + Quad Wheelchair Singles Semifinals
- 3 p.m. – Men’s Semifinals
- 7 p.m. – Men’s Semifinals
September 9, 2023
- 12 p.m. – Mixed Doubles Final (or Men’s Doubles Final); Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Doubles Final + Quad Wheelchair Doubles Final
- 4 p.m – Women’s Final
September 10, 2023
- 12 p.m. – Men’s & Women’s Wheelchair Singles Final; Quad Wheelchair Singles Final
- 1 p.m. – Women’s Doubles Final
- 4 p.m. – Men’s Final
The US Open airs on ESPN and ESPN 2, which is available to stream on Sling TV.
Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission from the sale.
