Video: Controversy erupts at the Australian Open as American tennis player CoCo Vandeweghe mouths profanities at opponent

American tennis star CoCo Vandeweghe had a terrific start to the year as she entered the Australian Open boasting a career-high ranking of nine.

However, it looks like her good fortune has come to an end as she crashed out at the very first hurdle of the year’s first Grand Slam on Monday, losing to Hungarian Timea Babos 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 at the Hisense Arena.

The low point, though, came when the combustible American lost her temper and mouthed profanities at her opponent. It was towards the end of the second set that she appeared to have cursed the 51-ranked Babos.

CoCo Vandeweghe gets a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct as she trails a set and 1-5 to Babos on Hisense. Screamed obscenities toward Babos, looked like. #AusOpen

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) January 15, 2018

In this video, it can be clearly seen that Vandeweghe is shouting out, “F*** you, you f***ing b****,” at her opponent and throwing her racquet in disgust.

Why are folks acting like Coco Vandeweghe got a code violation and a point taken away just for bouncing her racquet? Pretty sure she screamed FUCK OFF YOU FUCKING BITCH at Babos. You don't have to be much of a lip reader for that one. pic.twitter.com/3IxC29DgEb

— TroubleFault (@troublefault) January 15, 2018

Here is how Twitter reacted to the incident:

Why do people think I’m arrogant @CoCoVandey asked!! Watch today’s game again and u will get a fair idea why everyone thinks that... #soreloser #arrogant #sheisbananas 🍌@AustralianOpen

— Kate Louise (@Kate2Hawkins) January 15, 2018

I wonder if @CoCoVandey still feels surprised at why she comes across as arrogant 🤔

— Vinit Bhandari (@vinit207) January 15, 2018

Her behavior is appalling! She needs to learn sportsmanship.

— Viv (@VivianeMorgan) January 15, 2018

Who would've thought Kyrgios telling the crowd to "shut the fuck up" wasn't going to be the worst language on Day 1 at the #AusOpen #CocoVandeweghe

— Frank Scorpio (@PandaManV4) January 15, 2018

Jan 11th 2018, #CocoVandeweghe - " I think there's a misconception about me that I am arrogant..." Jan 15th 2018 #CocoVandeweghe- "Fuck off you fucking bitch" OK COCO, I think we've found your answer. 💁😂👍 #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ZqVDYFyeyh

— Kirsten (@kthatwasin) January 15, 2018

#american tennis right now. #VenusWilliams #SloaneStephens #cocovandeweghe #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/CyV0aqpCC3

— Esha (@milknhoney0725) January 15, 2018

Of course, the chair umpire noticed it and docked a point.

After the match, Vandeweghe told the media that she wasn’t too happy with Babos getting “in her face”. However, the Hungarian, on her part, denied riling Vandeweghe up.

"She always does that (loses her temper)," Babos said, “A couple of racquets are broken every match, this time it was I believe a time violation, but I'm not sure.”

"The second one, I believe, was an insult against me. If the umpire heard it then it must have been this," she added.

It was the second time that Vandeweghe was given a code violation today. Earlier, at the end of the first set, she had refused to restart play until a ball-kid delivered her bananas. The umpire had docked a point for time wasting.

Later on, the 26-year-old American took to Twitter to express gratitude to her fans who came to watch the match.

Thank you everyone for coming out today @AustralianOpen ! Sadly not where I’d like to be health wise, but you can’t pick when these things happen. Tried my best. Dubs now with @laurarobson5 #SSWCV 🍌

— CoCo Vandeweghe (@CoCoVandey) January 15, 2018