Chair Umpire Stops Ugly Confrontation Between Spectator and WTA Star at Italian Open

As Tauson approached to play at 1-2 in the third, a fan directly behind her deliberately made a sound, breaking her rhythm and allowing her to double-fault on her first serve. A little annoyed, she reset again, when the same fan made another sound as she released the ball for her second serve. Result- an expensive double fault.

Seething, Tauson turned and faced the spectator with a bewildered, angry expression and a blunt question: "Who are you?" Rather than an apology, the fan playfully replied with a thumbs-up sign, further infuriating the Dane.

Tauson went straight to the chair umpire to complain about the incident. "He's intentionally making noises to disturb my serve," she told her. The umpire, trying to calm the situation, replied firmly but calmly.

“Don't tell him anything," the chair umpire told her. "I can’t tell him anything about the double fault that was made, I will shut them down. Don't go against them. If you go against them, you will make war. Let me report them," the umpire continued as she implored Tauson to go back to the baseline.

Still fuming from the talk, Tauson went back to the baseline and fired an ace on the very next point. Glancing toward the offending spectator, she dared him with a gesture suggesting- 'make a noise now.'

The short but passionate exchange added more drama to already gritty match, but finally the distraction appeared to last longer on Tauson than with her opponent. Andreeva, who was cool and clinical, took advantage of the change in momentum to finish off the match 6-2 in the third set.