CoCo Vandeweghe has a shorter fuse than most other players on tour, that’s for sure.The American has developed a reputation for losing her cool in the face of adversity, resulting in fines and point penalties throughout her career.That’s not to say a bad temper has stifled her ability to compete with the best in the world – far from it, in fact.Widely recognised as one of several women capable of supplanting Serena Williams at the top of the sport, Vandeweghe’s candidacy has received a huge boost in the last two years.In addition to clinching a career-high ranking of World No. 9 after floating around the top 30, Vandeweghe underlined her progression in 2017 with two Grand Slam semifinal appearances.Those results came in the US and Australia, encouraging some to believe the 26-year-old could make a real fist of winning her first major at Melbourne Park this January.Vandeweghe was handed a relatively kind first-round assignment in the form of Timea Babos, ranked No. 51 and without a WTA title to her name.But the Hungarian proved nothing is decided on paper, condemning her more favoured opponent to a straight-sets defeat, 7-6 (4), 6-2.Vandeweghe barely had a look-in throughout what was the kind of contest to which she usually responds with questionable behaviour.The Californian eventually lost control of her emotions to no great surprise, but the manner of her tantrums was remarkable, even by her standards.Having lost the opening set, Vandeweghe copped a time violation for refusing to restart play until she received a delivery of bananas to the court.But while that particular instance can only be described as weird, her next major outburst was just plain nasty.Down 5-1 in the second set, Vandeweghe reacted to another lost point with a racket bounce before screaming “f*** off, you f***ing bitch” at her opponent.Yikes. Claimed to be in response to Babos’ allegedly excessive celebrations, the obscenity cost the American a point penalty at the time, although a more significant punishment was always going to follow.
VANDEWEGHE'S HUGE FINE
Now, a decision has been made and Vandeweghe must cough up a whopping $10,000 for unsporting conduct, per ESPN.
The amount is the largest of the tournament so far, doubling the $5,000 fine handed to Borna Coric for smashing his racket versus John Millman of Australia.
It might only be pocket change to her, but Vandeweghe should probably learn to keep a lid on it for the sake of her wallet.