Stuttgart Open: Marta Kostyuk’s Opponent Accused of ‘Cheating’ in Ruthless Bashing From Tennis Fans

Bizarre scenes were seen at the Stuttgart Open on April 17. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk took on the German, Laura Siegemund to secure a spot in the R16 of the tournament. Although Kostyuk won the match after a three-set thriller, it was Laura Siegemund who came to the headlines yet again for a major controversy during the match.

The 21-year-old Ukrainian tennis player was facing the 36-year-old Stuttgart resident in front of her home crowd. Kostyuk took the lead in the first set, but the German came back in the next. However, at the beginning of the third set, a controversy emerged when Kostyuk hit a shot on a breakpoint of her serve, and the linesman called that out. 

“Shameful behavior” – Fans lash out at Laura Siegemund for ‘inappropriate’ actions during match against Marta Kostyuk

After hearing the call from the linesman, the chair umpire stepped down from her chair and overturned the call after having a thorough inspection. She initially gave points to Marta Kostyuk, but later went back on her decision after Laura Siegemund was heard complaining that she had the ball in her reach but was forced to refrain from taking the shot due to the out call. The chair umpire later on accepted the German’s objection and asked both players to replay the point. 

Marta Kostyuk looked a bit confused initially but later on, she was spotted arguing with the chair umpire over the call. However, the umpire stood firm on her decision and Kostyuk was later broken in the replayed point. But thankfully for the Ukrainian, it didn’t have much impact on the result of the match as she defeated the German by 3-6,7-6(4),6-4. However, the fans think the call from the linesman came well after Siegemund hit the ball.

One of the fans questioned whether Siegemund has ever played a match without attempting to cheat, making clear their stance on the German’s style of play.

Another fan called Laura Siegemund a “Dirty player“. The German has this strange ability to end up on the wrong side of the turn of events now and then. Fans now come out all guns blazing.

While others showcased their support saying Kostyuk must not lose to this player. They even called that incident to be pretty shameful from the aspect of the spirit of the game.

Some of them went a step further and called her a “Classic Cheater“. They even didn’t hesitate to put a “snake” tag beside the name of this German tennis player.

A few of them wondered why Laura Siegemund was “always at the scene of crime”, insinuating that she is often involved in controversies that don’t work out in the opponent’s favor.

However, this isn’t the first time that Siegemund has found herself in trouble in the middle of a match. A similar controversy erupted surrounding the German during one of her matches against Coco Gauff in the 2023 US Open.

“They had no respect for me” – Siegemund after facing the heat from the fans during her match against Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff faced Laura Siegemund in the first round of the US Open in 2023 but even then the German ended up on the losing side. However, her actions during the match were the talk of the town for the rest of the week. She was seen making Gauff wait to serve several times during the match. This delay later on infuriated Coco Gauff and also the crowd at the stadium. Gauff accused her of wasting time between the points and delaying the serve. She even went to the chair umpire to bring this to her notice.

The crowd didn’t take this incident lightly. They were even seen cheering during Siegemund’s faults and making noise as she served. Laura Siegemund later on got a bit emotional while stating the US Open crowd showed her “no respect” and treated her “like a cheater” in that match.

She added, “I am very, very disappointed with the way the people treated me today. I am a fighter, I never did anything against the audience, I stayed calm, I never made not even a gesture against the audience. And they had no respect for me.” Share your thoughts surrounding these incidents involving Laura Siegemund.