At the end of the match in the Doha tournament, the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (31 WTA, 34 years old) and the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (11 WTA, 26 years old) created a tense moment.
The moment when the two players ignore each other PHOTO capture X
During the Round of 16, Azarenka scored a clear victory against Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-0. But at the end of the match, the two players ignored each other, writes GSP.
After Azarenka won the final point of the match, both players headed to the net, where spectators expected them to greet each other, as is customary in tennis.
However, the moment was an extremely strange one. Ostapenko was the first to reach the net, but instead of reaching for her opponent, she held out her racket, a common practice during the pandemic.
Azarenka ignored the gesture and walked past Ostapenko without looking at her. Afterwards, Ostapenko saluted the chair umpire, a gesture that was also repeated by Azarenka. After these brief interactions, each player returned to her own bench.
Reactions from fans on the Internet were not slow to appear. Many expressed disappointment with the behavior of the two players, and Jelena Ostapenko was criticized in particular.
“Azarenka's reaction at the end is wonderful. He doesn't have time for this shit.”
“It was rude of Ostapenko not to shake hands with Azarenka. He only behaves nicely when he wins. He doesn't know how to lose. Let's not forget that it's Azarenka's punching bag.”
“Can't they shake hands?”
“Both should be fined for lack of sportsmanship. Not shaking hands is the biggest insult. Then it's bad to not even greet each other with rockets. What's wrong with them?”
“That's why education is important. It helps you have class.”
“Ostapenko does not know how to lose. I like that Azarenka ignores the racket.”
“Ostapenko, as usual she is disrespectful.”
“Congratulations, Vika.”
