Young Tennis Star In Heated Spat With Rival Over Brutal Moment

American teen sensation Coco Gauff fought “fire with fire” to come through a tension-fuelled second round against Marketa Vondrousova.
Contesting a seventh consecutive three-set match, Gauff needed two hours to dismiss the Czech 12th seed 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 and set up a third-round meeting with qualifier Tereza Martincova.

The contest took on an edge when 16-year-old Gauff complained to the umpire about how Vondrousova was catching her ball toss with her racquet instead of letting it bounce or capturing it with her hand, which she believed to be against the rules.

The incident sparked some tension — there was no apology from Gauff when she aimed a drive volley directly at Vondrousova’s body and the Czech also forewent the courtesy apology when she claimed a point via a lucky net cord.

Gauff goes for the body. Vondrousova stairs her down and shakes her head. #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/3vlHrdg5EE

— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) March 9, 2021

Did not expect Coco Gauff and Marketa Vondrousova to be beefing yet here we are.

— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) March 9, 2021

“My personality, I fight fire with fire,” said Gauff. “I lost those two points that game, and she had wild screams, and I like to scream, so I screamed back.”

Gauff, who is ranked 38, turns 17 on Saturday, the day of the Dubai final and is keen to celebrate in style.

“That’s definitely a big motivation,” said the Florida-based Gauff.

Gauff put the drama behind her to ease past Tereza Martincova in two sets to reach the quarter-finals, setting up a meeting with Jil Teichmann.