'If she screams one more time': World No.6 fumes over teenage opponent's antics
Facing a straight sets loss in the second round, sixth seed Maria Sakkari took her opponent Diana Shnaider to task over her exaggerated celebrations.
As Shnaider levelled the second set at five games apiece, the 18-year-old let out a roar and pumped her fist while glaring at her Greek opponent.
Bemused by the behaviour, Sakkari approached chair umpire Christian Rask to voice her frustrations at the act.
LIVE UPDATES: Australian Open 2023 day three highlights
READ MORE: Aussie wildcard channels Hewitt in 2am epic
READ MORE: Tennis top seed hit with 'tanking' accusations
Maria Sakkari was less than impressed with her opponent's loud celebrations Nine
"If she screams one more time in my face," Sakkari could be heard saying.
"No, no, no, no.
"One more time… she's coming towards me. One more time and I'm going to speak to the referee."
The move left commentators Kate Burton and Louise Pleming confused.
Watch the Australian Open live and free on the Nine Network: Channel 9, 9Gem and 9NOW.
However, Rask appeared to dismiss the issue.
After losing the first set, Sakkari went on to win the match, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, in a thrilling tug-of-war contest.
Ranked 106th in the world, Shnaider progressed into the main draw through the qualifying competition.
Despite the mid-match blow-up, Sakkari was all praise for her talented opponent afterwards.
"She's very young, she's very promising. Maybe she should consider not going to college (at North Carolina State) and playing pro [instead]," she said.
Later explaining the incident, Sakkari said Shnaider acted "inappropriately".
"I think that, you know, during a match you can be very pumped or, you know, the way that some players celebrate their points, it's not appropriate," she told the media.
"I wasn't happy with that. But, you know, she never did it again. That was very nice of her."
Sakkari also admitted to talking a lot during the match which "wasn't very good" for her game.
Australian Open 2023 in pictures: Hilarious detail in Novak Djokovic's jacket proves ruthless mentality
