"Imagine if she played against Maria Sharapova and she screamed RUN RUN " - Tennis fans chastise Maria Sakkari for Australian Open antics

The second round of the Australian Open 2023 has had its own fair share of highlights as tennis fans have reacted to Maria Sakkari's recent 'warning' towards her opponent during her match in Melbourne.

Playing her second-round match against 18-year-old Diana Shnaider, the sixth seed rallied to beat the teenager, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. However, the Russian's fiery celebrations during the match did not go down well with the former World No. 3.

Sakkari threatened to call the match referee during the second set if the Russian teenager did not stop her loud celebrations.

"If she screams one more time in my face, I'm going to call the referee," Sakkari said.

However, the current World No. 6's reaction to the teenager's fist pumping in getting a few points against the top-10 players didn't please the fans. They turned to social media to reflect on the incident and slammed Maria Sakkari, calling her out for her behavior.

Some fans criticized the Greek by wondering what it would have been like if former World No. 1 players like Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova had reacted the same way to each other's screaming after winning a point.

"Imagine if Serena and Sharapova complained every time one of them screamed in the other’s face," the caption read.

A fan loathed her reaction and pointed out her hypocrisy as she herself celebrated loudly in another match.

"shes so hypocritical omg shes was doing this against elise 6-1 1-0 up i can not be more of a hater," the tweet read.

Another fan mentioned how Sharapova would react to Sakkari's threat. The tweet hinted at an iconic moment during the Russian's 2012 match against Agnieskza Radwanska.

"Imagine if Sakkari played against Sharapova and she screamed RUN RUN," the tweet read.

Fans continued to lash out at Sakkari for her antics, calling her a "loser".

"Sakkari is such a loser ew. I wish Shnaider won, no need for a 27 years old bitter loser who can't win a WTA 250 to save her life," the fan tweeted.

Some more fan reactions to the incident are as follows:

Maria Sakkari to face the winner of Jil Teichmann- Zhu Lin clash in 3R of the Australian Open 2023

2023 Australian Open - Day 3

Maria Sakkari booked her place in the third round of the Australian Open 2023 after beating Diana Shnaider. In the first round of the tournament, the 27-year-old comfortably beat Yue Yuan, 6-1, 6-4, in the opening round of the Major.

Maria Sakkari will face either Jil Teichmann or Zhu Lin on Friday, January 20 in the third round of the tournament. Sakkari has never faced Teichmann before and has a 1-0 head-to-head advantage over Lin.