An emotional Laura Siegemund, who lost to Coco Gauff in three sets in the first round of the U.S. Open, said she felt so disrespected by the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd on Monday night that she is contemplating not returning to the Grand Slam tournament.
The German qualifier convincingly defeated the 19-year-old Gauff in the first set before dropping the next two to fall 6-3, 2-6, 4-6, but it wasn’t the loss that left a sour taste in Siegemund’s mouth — it was her dynamic with the fans in attendance.
“I won here two times [in doubles and mixed doubles], every minute of every game I’ve played here, [I leave] everything out on the court and this is how they treat me?” Siegemund rhetorically asked through tears in her post-match interview. “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.”
The match was overshadowed by Siegemund’s pace, which irritated both the crowd and Gauff.
It certainly played a major role in the match lasting for nearly three hours.
Fans honed in on Siegemund during the moments when she appeared to be taking her time, such as wiping the sweat off her face and racquet.
They made noises during her serves, called, “Time!” and motioned to their pretend watches on their wrists.
Siegemund complained to umpire Marijana Veljovic, who the 35-year-old said she does not have a good relationship with, but there wasn’t much to be done about the usually rowdy crowd in Flushing Meadows.
“I never did anything against the audience,” she said. “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.”
Siegemund said the crowd dynamic did not affect her game, noting that she is proud of herself for being mentally strong.
Pointing out that she is not the youngest player anymore, Siegemund admitted that she struggles physically after long rallied. She needs the 25 seconds to rest, she said, as well as wipe the sweat away.
Siegemund said she believes if Gauff, or any other big-name player, was taking that much time, it wouldn’t have been as big of an issue to the crowd or umpire.
She added that umpires get to choose when they press the time clock and, in turn, she felt mistreated by Veljovic.
“They treated me bad,” Siegemund said of the fans. “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 racquets, 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.”