Opposed in the second round of the Montreal tournament, Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins had a rather tough verbal exchange in the second set when the Greek was down a set to zero. Annoyed at having missed a first serve, she hit the ball back. A gesture of nervousness little appreciated by the public who saw the small yellow ball land in the stands after hitting the ground but also by the American who immediately asked the referee to take action. “Did you see that ? You saw what happened,” Collins said.
Observing the scene as she was about to serve a second time, Sakkari quickly got angry, replying to her rival: “It (the ball) didn’t hit anyone. It was on the pitch!” retorted the 8th player in the world who did not have time to finish her remarks. “Shut your mouth!” the American replied curtly.
The disagreement did not end there. “What’s your problem? I didn’t hit anyone,” said Sakkari. “You hit the ball towards the stands Maria and you almost hit someone,” added the Floridian coached by former Spanish player Nicolas Almagro.
Sensing that the tension was only increasing, the chair umpire ended the discussion by asking both players to be quiet. The meeting resumed its course and Collins won in two sets (6-4, 6-2) before going to shake hands with the Athenian at the net.
