For crying out loud, says vanquished Vekic

Croatian Donna Vekic has been inadvertently dragged into the debate about unseemly screaming during women's tennis matches.

Unlike bellowing Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka - who enraged fans in her first-round loss to Ashleigh Barty - or Russian Maria Sharapova, Vekic does not feel the need to screech loudly after every shot.

But the 21-year was driven to distraction on Thursday by a baby in the crowd who bawled regularly during her 6-4 6-1 loss to 2016 Open champ Angelique Kerber.

Not that she got any joy from chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein, who insisted there was nothing he could do.

Maybe. Maybe not.

Whether it was a good idea to bring a baby to Melbourne Park on a day when the temperature nudged 40 degrees was highly questionable.

Such a situation could not have happened at Wimbledon as children under the age of five aren't permitted in the stands on the showcourts.