The thrill of competition can bring out all kinds of emotions. Most of the time, joy and anger are expressed on the players of opposing sides. In the current US Open - a tennis grand slam - emotions have run high. That emotion has been anger. Various players have exploded with frustrations and it can be a concern.
Another day at the US Open, another volley of shots sent fizzing back and forth across the net, all exchanged without a ball being struck.
Flushing Meadows has become the site of flushed cheeks during the final grand slam tournament of the year, with a confrontation over grunting on Saturday serving up the latest evidence of emotions running hot in New York.
Spain’s Jaume Munar had just stamped his ticket to the fourth round with a straight-sets victory over Zizou Bergs when he approached his Belgian opponent to ask if he had been shouting, "on purpose" while striking the ball.
Shaking his head in rebuttal, Bergs said the Spaniard didn't need to, "talk trash." Munar responded by referencing when his opponent hit a ball into the stands during the third set, with Bergs subsequently penalised a point for ball abuse and ceding that game as a result.
Speaking after the match, Bergs said Munar had taken issue with his grunting but insisted it wasn't directed at his opponent; as per the Associated Press. Munar explained that while he felt Bergs “did some wrong things,” he heard the explanation that it was not intentional.
“It’s not much more than that,” he added.
It was the latest incident in a series of tense post-match exchanges that have erupted at this year’s US Open, prompting players to speculate why tempers have flared so much.
Less than 24 hours beforehand, similar scenes bookended the close of a doubles contest that saw American duo, Peyton Stearns and McCartney Kessler, defeat Romania’s Soran Cirstea and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.
A meeting of all four players at the net culminated in a one-on-one discussion between Kalinskaya and Stearns below the umpire’s chair, with Kalinskaya heard on broadcast saying: "I just expected some respect. I didn’t see you saying sorry one time."
The conversation ended with a conciliatory bumping of fists, a resolution Stearns referenced when taking to social media to explain that Kalinskaya hadn't seen her apologise after striking several forehand shots towards the Russian.
"Never hit her, but I put my hand up and she wasn’t looking," Stearns continued in a post on X. "Cleared the air at the end and all is good."
Respect was the incendiary buzzword for a back-and-forth between Taylor Townsend and Jelena Ostapenko, the fall-out of which has extended well beyond the initial encounter last Wednesday.
Ostapenko apologised on social media this past Saturday for accusing a, "disrespectful" Townsend of having "no class" or "no education" after not apologising for hitting the net cord; comments which drew criticism from two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka.
Townsend followed up the victory over Ostapenko with a third round upset win over Mirra Andreva on Friday and a second round doubles win on Saturday after which she stated she had not seen Ostapenko’s apology but welcomed it nonetheless, stating that it would be a, "learning lesson" for the Latvian.
"She expected for me to react a certain type of way, and I didn’t, and it infuriated her" Townsend told reporters. "Which led her to say things that are hurtful, that are belligerent, that are offensive, not only to me, but to the sport and to a whole culture of people that I try to do my best to represent the best that I can."
"Ultimately, when we get our emotions wrapped up in things is where we get our feelings hurt," she added later. "It’s great she went to social media and apologised. I really hope from this she can take that, 'Hey, you can’t control people and it’s better just to focus on yourself'.”
The net cord is at the heart of a long-running sportsmanship debate in the sport, as is the underarm serve, which was the flashpoint for Stefanos Tsitsipas’ frustrations the following day. Greece’s two-time grand slam finalist was irked by Daniel Altmaier’s tactics during a five-set second round defeat, and he confronted the German at the net after the match.
"Next time, don’t wonder why I hit you…If you serve underarm," Tsitsipas said as the pair shook hands; Altmaier waving the comments away before heading to shake hands with the umpire.
Yet, perhaps the most heated outburst of all so far at the tournament occurred during the first round, with Daniil Medvedev ultimately BEING fined $42 500 for unsportsmanlike conduct and racket abuse during his loss to Benjamin Bonzi.
The Russian launched a tirade at the chair umpire after a photographer stepped onto the court surface before repeatedly hitting his racket against his bench at the match’s conclusion.
The players have a few theories as to why tempers have fleared at Flushing Meadows.
For some, the environment has a part to play, in particular a New York crowd with a raucous reputation for making Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world’s biggest tennis court, a cauldron of noise. The smaller arenas are no exception. Whistles and boos rained down as Medvedev’s outburst whipped spectators into a frenzy, crowds screaming and shouting anytime Bonzi went to serve.
"New York City tends to bring out just a lot of drama, I guess," Jessica Pegula said Saturday after progressing to the round of 16 on Friday. "I feel like the crowds, they’re pretty crazy. They kind of get everyone riled up."
Coco Gauff, who won in 2023, echoed her American compatriot, adding that while crowds are undoubtedly, "passionate tennis fans," many are used to the types of rowdy atmospheres commonplace at other events and arenas in the city.
Both Gauff and Pegula also drew attention to the importance of it being the end of the grand slam calendar, with the final push for silverware coinciding with tired minds and bodies.
"Everyone is tense. It’s the last slam of the season, your last chance to go deep at a slam for a while," Pegula said. "I think people maybe just get stressed out, and you’re out there competing and fighting and trying to win. I think it just gets emotional. Adrenaline starts flowing. People get into it."
Gauff countered that such heated moments occur "frequently" during tournaments held across the year but get more social media scrutiny at the US Open due to its grand slam status.
"I think for us players it’s just another week on tour," Gauff said last Saturday. "But these things happen, I would say, more frequently than maybe the ones who just tune into the grand slams think."
Her upcoming fourth round opponent, Osaka, sees some truth in the tiredness angle, but is putting her foot down on one argument: don’t blame it on The Big Apple. "For me I think New York brings out my best behaviour, so I don’t know what everyone else is doing," she said.
These events, and many others, seem to be reflective of this particular moment of the season. Stress runs high across on the tour, particularly at the major tournaments, but the US Open is positioned at a particularly fraught period towards the end of a long, gruelling campaign. Players are tired, tightly strung and emotions are running high. They are, of course, in New York, one of the most frantic cities in the world.
Not everyone believes the location of the US Open has a role in player behaviour: "Hey, don’t blame New York!” said a smiling Naomi Osaka, who grew up in the city.
Before offering her opinion, Osaka jokingly made it clear that she hadn't been part of any drama this week: "I don’t know if it’s just the part of the season where everyone is tired and irritated or something," she smiled. "But for me I think New York brings out my best behaviour, so I don’t know what everyone else is doing."
Unseasonably mild conditions have done nothing to cool tempers inside the US Open this year, as frustrations boil over and nerves fray on courts across Flushing Meadows.
Spats at the net and tears on the bench have appeared more frequent in New York this year, where players reach the home stretch of a busy season grasping at their last chance to claim a major title in 2025.
"Lots of drama," said American fourth seed, Jessica Pegula. "Everyone is tense. It's the last slam of the season. Your last chance to go deep at a slam for a while. I think people maybe just get stressed out, and you're out there competing and fighting and trying to win. I think it just gets emotional."
When you think about health risks from high temperatures, you usually don’t think about mental health. Heat does affect our emotions and our ability to think clearly (Washington State Department of Health, 2024).
When you expose your body to heat, your brain’s hypothalamus, a tiny part at the center of your brain, says "OK, our body is experiencing something. We must 'thermoregulate' or keep our body temperature in a safe range." It directs this whole response (Washington State Department of Health, 2024).
Your body is quite good at regulating its core temperature. You might not see a change in your core temperature because your brain is doing its job. It’s regulating. It’s causing you to sweat and kick into gear. It’s doing all these processes that cool you down to maintain a safe core body temperature. However, your body could use this energy for other things. Your body is prioritising temperature over higher cognitive functioning, like thinking or decision making (Washington State Department of Health, 2024).
People that are experiencing hyperthermia or heat illness can’t think straight. They can’t get themselves to a safe spot because they’re so out of it. If we’re not having a core body temperature change, we’re not necessarily experiencing something as severe as heat illness. Research shows that people might have cognitive impairments even before they feel uncomfortable from hyperthermia (Washington State Department of Health, 2024).
Those impairments include impulsivity, less cognitive control and negative emotions. Also, discomfort from heat makes a big difference in people’s emotional responses (Washington State Department of Health, 2024).
To me, there's no need to behave like this. One can react the way that they did in private. As some of them have experienced, punishments will incur as a result. However, it is possible that they couldn't control it.
As seen from above, the brain can't exacty multi task. Emotions can run high if it's not kept in check. Hopefully, someone will identify a way to even things out.
Reference List
Washington State Department of Health. (2024). Keeping your cool when you’re feeling the heat. Available from: https://medium.com/wadepthealth/keeping-your-cool-when-youre-feeling-the-heat-cb53cef61504 (Accessed: 2 September 2025).