Vandeweghe has 'banana drama' at Australian Open

Fiery American tennis player CoCo Vandeweghe had a bizarre moment during her straight sets loss to Hungary's Timea Babos in the women's singles first round at the Australian Open here on Monday.

The women's World No.9 received a time violation for waiting "too long" for a banana mid-way through the match, reports Xinhua news agency.

After going down in the first set 6-7 (4-7) in a gripping tie-break, Vandeweghe requested some courtside fruit.

"I asked for a banana at the end of the set and they didn't have any on court," she said.

"So I tried to wait for it but the chair umpire deemed that it was not a good enough reason to wait and he gave me a time violation for trying to wait for a banana."

When the match resumed, Babos dominated play and took the second set at 6-2.

Although the first round exit was considered a huge shock after the 26-year-old made the semi-finals of the tournament last year, Vandeweghe explained she had been suffering from illness in the lead up to the match.

"I've had the flu since about (last) Sunday," Vandeweghe said.

"It's the first time I have been out of bed in four days. I tried my best... but she played really well."

--IANS

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