Is Maria Sharapova Truly Unsportsmanlike? CoCo Vandeweghe Seems To Think So

Coco Vandeweghe unexpectedly pushed Maria Sharapova to the limit in the women’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon on Tuesday. It was an exciting match between the two blonde tennis players. After a three-setter, it was the Russian who came out on top. With Sharapova now headed to the semi-finals, she will be facing another American, Serena Williams. However, she also faced off with Vandeweghe after their 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 match as the New Yorker had some fighting words to say.

The New York Daily News said that the controversy was mostly coming from Vandeweghe who had a beef with her opponent. She complained that Maria was over there across the net shifting and moving around while she was in the middle of tossing the ball during her second serve.

“What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion, was not, I don’t think, sportsmanlike…. I try to play as fair as I can.”

She also made it a point to bring it up to the chair umpire, Eva Asderaki-Moore. She wanted her to issue a warning to Sharapova. However, the ump didn’t seem to think there was a problem and that the world No. 4 player was doing it on purpose.

“She [the umpire] said she didn’t believe she was doing it during the motion. I strongly disagreed. Towards the later end of the second set, I said if she has a problem speaking to Maria, if she’s too scared to do it, I had no problem speaking to her.”

Nonetheless, Maria Sharapova wasn’t too bothered by the whole thing. In fact, she said that she wasn’t even aware that was all happening at the time. Whether that was true or not, she chose to not really respond to the accusations that she was unsportsmanlike. In her Sharapova-like manner, she had this simple response.

“It is what it is. I’m not going to argue against her words.”

The match between these two tennis pros was quite entertaining. The rivalry lasted 2 hours, 46 minutes with lots of hard hitting shots, struggling serves, and, of course, lots of grunting from the 2004 Wimbledon champ. In the end, it was Maria Sharapova who came out on top.

.@mariasharapova fights off challenge from @CoCoVandey to reach #Wimbledon semis vs. either #Serena or #Azarenka. pic.twitter.com/j5FSBloWli

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) July 7, 2015

Coco was certainly a little whippersnapper out on the grass court. While Sharapova was her usual serious self, the 23-year-old American played the crowd for most of the match. She got them going by throwing her arms up like a prize fighter would.

WATCH The unseeded @CoCoVandey has the delighted Centre Court crowd on their feet #Wimbledon http://t.co/X9HW4DV9qE

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2015

She looked amused for most of the match, except when she was complaining about Sharapova’s bothersome movements. She may be well on her way to becoming one of the up and coming young tennis players. In fact, Maria had good things to say about her before they stepped foot on the court.

“I think it’s been a tremendous effort for her to get to this stage. Her game really revolves around her serve and she’s been using it quite effectively in her previous four matches.”

As for Sharapova, she is hoping for her second Wimbledon championship. She has had years of experience since her 2004 win when she was just 17 years old and she has proved to be one tough competitor. But first, she will have to get past Serena Williams on Thursday. The Inquisitr previously reported that Serena and her sister, Venus Williams, battled it out on Monday, but it was Serena who ended up with the victory. She then went on to beat Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals on Tuesday and will now face Sharapova in the semis.

What do you think of Coco Vandeweghe’s comments on Maria Sharapova and her on-court behavior?

[Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images]