{"id":102622,"date":"2025-08-28T18:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102622\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T18:22:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T18:22:11","slug":"the-most-controversial-tennis-handshakes-of-all-time-as-jelena-ostapenko-slams-taylor-townsend-for-disrespect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/102622\/","title":{"rendered":"The most controversial tennis handshakes of all-time as Jelena Ostapenko slams Taylor Townsend for \u2018disrespect\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend\u2019s clash during the 2025 US Open was the latest in a long list of intense exchanges witnessed by fans throughout tennis history.<\/p>\n

After losing to Townsend, Ostapenko launched into a tirade at the net, accusing the American of being \u2018very disrespectful\u2019<\/a> after apparently failing to apologise for a point won on a net cord.<\/p>\n

Townsend, who said Ostapenko had branded her with the tag of having \u2018no education,\u2019 later added that she was not surprised by Ostapenko\u2019s behaviour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is far from the first occasion two players have clashed at the net on the tennis court, and it won\u2019t be the last.<\/p>\n

That being said, it is worth taking a look back at some of the most famous, or rather infamous, clashes at the net in tennis history.<\/p>\n

\"JelenaPhoto by Clive Brunskill\/Getty ImagesYulia Putintseva vs. Maria Sakkari \u2013 2025 Bad Homburg<\/p>\n

The most recent high-profile clash came during the 2025 Bad Homburg Open.<\/p>\n

Kazakhstan\u2019s Yulia Putintseva and Greece\u2019s Maria Sakkari faced off, with Sakkari claiming victory 7-5 7-6.<\/p>\n

However, it was the post-match scenes that grabbed the attention of those watching. After Putintseva said something to Sakkari during the handshake, Sakkari was heard to say \u201cwhen you shake hands with someone, look them in the eyes,\u201d before adding, \u201cnobody likes you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakkari spoke about the incident in her on-court interview. As per Sky Sports<\/a>, she said: \u201cI don\u2019t think she\u2019s going to invite me for dinner for the rest of our lives, but I don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have very good friends and I\u2019ll go to dinner with them. Let me leave it here, and just say that I have respect for her as a player, but that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putintseva later responded on Instagram, saying: \u201cBy the way \u2013 not that I care \u2013 I shook her hand as most women do. Clearly not according to the \u2018hugging protocol\u2019 some men seem to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daniil Medvedev vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas \u2013 2018 Miami Open<\/p>\n

In 2018, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas met for the first time on the ATP Tour. Medvedev won the contest 2-6 6-4 6-2.<\/p>\n

After the match, the pair clashed, with Medvedev seemingly upset about an apparent comment made by Tsitsipas at the net and the Greek player\u2019s emergency toilet break during the decisive third set.<\/p>\n

Medvedev has gone on to dominate their rivalry, winning 10 of the 14 matches they have played.<\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic vs. Fabio Fognini \u2013 2013 Shanghai Masters<\/p>\n

After Novak Djokovic defeated Fabio Fognini at the 2013 Shanghai Masters, the Serbian star initiated a particularly firm handshake at the net.<\/p>\n

Following a 6-3 6-3 victory, Djokovic<\/a> shook Fognini\u2019s hand while pulling the Italian swiftly towards him.<\/p>\n

Djokovic would go on to win the entire tournament, defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the final.<\/p>\n

\"NovakPhoto by Matthew Stockman\/Getty ImagesAndre Agassi vs. Boris Becker \u2013 1995 US Open<\/p>\n

Andre Agassi<\/a> and Boris Becker faced off 14 times during their careers, with Agassi claiming victory on 10 of those occasions.<\/p>\n

On one particular occasion, the 1995 US Open<\/a> semi-finals, Agassi defeated Becker 7-6 7-6 4-6 6-4. After the match, Agassi seemed less than impressed with Becker, displaying a clear lack of warmth towards his opponent during their handshake.<\/p>\n

In his post-match press conference, Agassi explained the reason behind this, saying: \u201cHonestly, I will tell you I have shown nothing but respect towards Boris my entire career,\u201d Andre Agassi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe beat me the first three times we played. I never talked about anything, but what a great champion he was. I beat him eight times in a row, I never said anything, but what a great champion he is.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter he beat me this year at Wimbledon, he said some things that bothered me on a very personal level. It is hard for me to respect anybody who is going to beat me and say so many things that are not only wrong, but meant to hurt.<\/p>\n

\"AndrePhoto by Bongarts\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t understand that and I don\u2019t respect it. It is real simple, I respect his tennis play but once a match is over, you know, it ends there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becker won their 1995 Wimbledon semi-final clash, before losing to Pete Sampras in the final.<\/p>\n

At the US Open, Agassi would go on to lose in the final, again to Pete Sampras.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend\u2019s clash during the 2025 US Open was the latest in a long list…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[7784,1518,64,63,5873,22960,74363,18935,3592,85,35899,18936,747,20337],"class_list":{"0":"post-102622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-andre-agassi","9":"tag-atp-tennis-players","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-boris-becker","13":"tag-daniil-medvedev","14":"tag-jelena-ostapenko","15":"tag-maria-sakkari","16":"tag-novak-djokovic","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-stefanos-tsitsipas","19":"tag-taylor-townsend","20":"tag-tennis","21":"tag-wta-tennis-players"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}