Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula will feed hard done by after the unfortunate timing late in their US Open doubles first round match.

The second seeds took on 2021 singles finalist Leylah Fernandez and Australia’s Daria Saville in the opening round of the women’s doubles, and went to a 10-point tiebreak in the third after splitting the first two sets.

With Fernandez and Saville serving up a mini-break at 7-5, Gauff had a volley and then a put-away smash on top of the net, appearing to regain the mini-break to make it 7-6.

But Saville had stopped playing mid-point as a napkin was blown across the court behind Pegula at the baseline, and under the letter of the law the umpire called a let and a replay of the point.

Though the rules of the game were adhered to, Pegula and Gauff were understandably immensely frustrated, particularly given the ease of the shot Gauff had on her racket and the crucial nature of the point.

“What! She can’t call that!” Pegula shouted towards the umpire. “She (Gauff) had a sitter on top of the net!”

“You’re stealing points from us!” Gauff interjected.

The point was replayed at 7-5, with Pegula returning into the net. She then double-faulted before a winner from Fernandez sealed the match 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-5) for the unseeded pairing.

The loss means that doubles world number one Gauff will drop from that ranking to at least fourth following the US Open.