American tennis player Coco Vandeweghe's shock first-round loss in the Australian Open was further marred by a time violation for insisting bananas be brought to her on court.
Coco Vandeweghe hits a return against Hungary's Timea Babos Photo: AFP
The American 10th seed went down at the hands of world number 51 Timea Babos, losing 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Having lost the first set, Vandeweghe endured a meltdown, complaining to chair umpire Fergus Murphy that there were no bananas on court, causing a lengthy delay until fruit was brought to her.
"How are they not on court? I mean, c'mon that's not my fault," Vandeweghe argued.
"Why do I have to play under a different set of rules. I don't have to make myself uncomfortable because it's ill-prepared.
"I have needs and it's not my fault that this court is ill-prepared."
Vandeweghe eventually got her bananas after a 60-second delay, before copping a time violation.
But the fruity snacks didn't do the trick. Down 5-1 in the second set, Vandeweghe bounced her racquet after losing a point, before hurling some potassium-tinged invective across the court in Babos' direction.
Social media's many lip readers claimed the American had mouthed the words "f*** off you f***ing bitch".
Whether it was for the verbal vitriol, or the racquet bounce, the umpire reprimanded Vandeweghe with a code violation, prompting another on-court chat.
Vandeweghe claimed in her post-match press conference that Babos had been very "in your face with her c'mons", but the Hungarian insisted it wasn't personal.
"If she would have looked at my matches I'm always like this," Babos said.
"It's never against my opponent, it was never to her face, it was to my box or when it was an incredible point it was to the crowd.
"It was not against her, it's against my personality. I'm crazy on court but not in a negative way, I'm just like this [animated]."
Vandeweghe said she had been suffering flu and had requested to delay the first round match, but was ignored.
Bananas seemed to dominate day one in Melbourne, with Canadian prospect Denis Shapovalov struggling to get to grips with the starchy morsels.
The 18-year-old was facing Greek young gun Stefanos Tsitsipas, but his toughest opponent proved to be a banana skin.
While taking a break in the players' area, Shapovalov's coordination deserted him at the crucial moment, failing to crack open a banana before dropping it to the floor.
Not to be beaten, Shapovalov tried his hand at a second banana. It too proved too resilient against his digital dexterity.
Dropping it disdainfully and shaking his head, the Canadian tried for third time lucky. Again, the banana peel may as well have been a bank vault as it refused to yield its chewy goodness.
Reaching for the second banana, lying forlornly on the court floor, Shapovalov finally cracked it, gobbling down a few bites before advancing to the second round in a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) win.
-ABC
