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'Slap in the face': US Open player's coach in 'shock' defection to rival

A rude shock awaited Olympic tennis champion Monica Puig after her first round loss at the US Open, with the Puerto Rican star discovering after the match that she had been dumped by her coach.

Puig, the gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was defeated 6-3, 6-3 by Rebecca Peterson in the first round, but it was the defection of her coach, Kamau Murray, that left her in shock.

Murray reportedly ditched Puig to assist US star Sloane Stephens.

Monica Puig discovered her coach had left her after her first round loss at the US open via social media.
Monica Puig got a nasty surprise after her first round exit at the US Open, discovering her coach had quit via social media after the game. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Speaking to tennis reporter Reem Abulleil, Puig said she only heard that her coach had left her from posts on social media, after her first-round exit.

“It came as a huge shock,” she said.

"I wanted to prove to myself *at the US Open) that nobody is going to be able to treat me this way in anything.

"To give and to receive a slap in the face, it's hard."

Serena Williams, husband cause day one stir

Serena Williams’ husband has caused a stir at the US Open with what appears to be a thinly-veiled swipe at Maria Sharapova.

Alexis Ohanian was in attendance on Monday as Serena blitzed Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 in just 59 minutes.

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It was Serena’s 19th-straight win over her long-time rival, and would have been particularly sweet considering their history.

Speaking of history, Ohanian appeared to reference Sharapova’s with the T-shirt he was wearing.

Ohanian wore a shirt with ‘D.A.R.E’ on the front - short for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Many took it as a dig at Sharapova, who was infamously banned from tennis in 2016 after testing positive to a banned substance.