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Several tennis fans have reacted to Laura Siegemund narrowly escaping being struck by a tennis ball during her third-round US Open doubles match. The incident came hot on the heels of the German's recent controversy with Coco Gauff during their singles match.
The twelfth-seeded duo of Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva emerged victorious against the American pair of Robin Montgomery and Clervie Ngounoue 6-4, 6-4 to secure a spot in the doubles quarterfinals.
At one point during the match, Laura Siegemund was unable to return a shot hit by Montgomery. The speed of the ball prompted her to attempt a defensive block with her racket, but upon impact Siegemund lost her balance, fell down and tumbled backwards.
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Fans took to social media to react to the incident. One fan claimed that Robin Montgomery unleashed the powerful strike towards Laura Siegemund in retribution for the sluggish serves Coco Gauff had to face during their singles match at Flushing Meadows.
"Something tells me they got that lick for Coco!" the fan posted.
Another fan said Siegemund was again at the scene of the "crime."
"Siegemund at the scene of crime AGAIN 😭 😭 😭 ," the fan posted.
Here are a few more fan reactions:
"They treated me like a cheater” - Laura Siegemund breaks down in tears after Coco Gauff drama
Laura Siegemund burst into tears following her first-round encounter against Coco Gauff at the 2023 US Open. She also expressed her discontent with the conduct of the spectators present at the stadium.
Siegemund said she felt dejected because the audience treated her as a "cheater" and a "bad person."
"At the end of the day I go home and I look at myself and I can say I did a great job, but did I get anything from people for that? I didn't. Maybe it's not zero. Maybe it feels like zero right now. But it feels pretty much like a flat zero, even less than zero because they treated me bad," the German said.
"Like they treated me like I was a cheater. Like I was like, trying sneaky ways to win this match or something. They treated me like I was a bad person," she added.
Laura Siegemund also said she did not deserve such treatment, as she had not wronged the fans, unlike some other players.
"But you know there are people throwing racquets, screaming, who are like making bad gestures towards the audience. I did not one moment in the whole match and there was a lot of tension going on," she said.
"Not one moment I did anything. I was just slow. And that's you know, that's something in the rule. I get my time violation. That's fine, yeah," she added.
