It’s late August, and the last of the tennis Grand Slam tournaments is well underway in New York. The US Open, the last of the calendar year Grand Slams, takes place during the dog days of Summer in Queens, New York. The hotter temperatures and the fatigue of a year-long schedule often take a toll on the players, and the tournament has been the scene of numerous memorable outbursts.
While the tennis world is light years past the legendary antics of players like John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, tennis is making something of a comeback thanks to a wave of new stars and a few remaining legends that refuse to go away.
The sport suffered in the 2000s and beyond due to the lack of colorful characters and the advancement in equipment that allowed younger players to hit the ball so insanely hard that shotmaking and rallies suffered as a result. In short, the grace and artistry were gone, and with no compelling figures in the game, particularly in America, viewership declined.
As things always do, the pendulum has swung back, and there’s a renewed excitement for American tennis thanks to a new generation of exciting players. On the men’s side, John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Taylor Fritz are offering new excitement, but from the women’s perspective, there are several ladies promising to bring American tennis back from the dead.
Chief among those is Coco Gauff. Gauff is ranked 6th in Queens after an impressive championship at the Western Southern Open tuneup in Cincinnati, and if her first-round match was any preview, she might be bringing a little life and controversy back to the game.
During her first-round tilt with German player Laura Siegemund, Gauff dropped the first set 3-6. After the nerves calmed down and Coco settled in, she began to dominate. However, in the third set, the slow playing style of the 123rd-ranked German began to take its toll on Gauff. So much so that she finally had enough.
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After stopping her serve because Siegemund signaled she wasn’t ready, Gauff approached the umpire. It should be noted that tennis has instituted a play clock of sorts to ensure matches move in a timely fashion. The 38-year-old German appeared to be abusing the clock to throw Gauff off her rhythm. At least, that is what the 19-year-old American and the crowd thought.
In her exchange with the chair, she said: “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? 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!”
The ESPN commentator, Patrick McEnroe, brother of tennis legend John McEnroe, agreed: “She’s 100 percent right.” However, Gauff continued her tirade towards the chair: “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. 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.”
The young American regained her composure and took the set 6-4, winning the match. She then snubbed the chair during the post-match handshake, which is sure to illicit further response from the USTA governing body.
Gauff is the American’s best hope on the ladies’ side, and if her level of play can match her intensity, she may bring home a Grand Slam on the home court.
Featured image screen grab from embedded YouTube video