{"id":670165,"date":"2026-05-28T13:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670165\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T13:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T13:35:10","slug":"tamara-korpatsch-wang-xinyu-and-the-story-of-the-strangest-french-open-match-so-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/670165\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamara Korpatsch, Wang Xinyu and the story of the strangest French Open match so far"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 French Open.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

PARIS \u2014 As Wang Xinyu stood at the net under the relentless heat on Court 7, things were about to get even hotter.<\/p>\n

Serving at deuce and trailing to Germany\u2019s Tamara Korpatsch 5-2 in the first set of their second-round match at the French Open<\/a>, the Chinese No. 32 seed saw a forehand called out by a line judge. After the call, Korpatsch had walked forward to where it landed, before moving a little to her right and pointing to a mark.<\/p>\n

Per Roland Garros custom, chair umpire Aurelie Tourte descended from her chair to check. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam not to use electronic line calling, with line judges, the chair umpire, and the players<\/a> using the traces left by their shots to see whether the ball was in or out.<\/p>\n

After consulting the mark, Tourte ruled that Wang\u2019s forehand was out.<\/p>\n

Wang was not happy. After asking the umpire \u2014 who told her she would get a code violation \u2014 she went over to Korpatsch\u2019s side of the net to see for herself. The crowd booed as Wang gestured to her team, who sat right above the baseline where the ball landed.<\/p>\n

Once Wang got there, the two players argued over which ball mark should be considered. That tension carried through to the end of a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 win for the German, when Korpatsch refused to shake hands with Wang<\/a> after three sets full of incident, including a code violation issued to Korpatsch for celebrating too early.<\/p>\n

A cold encounter in the Paris heat \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

Tamara Korpatsch refused to shake hands after beating Wang Xinyu \ud83d\udeab pic.twitter.com\/WVB06XZHiq<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 TNT Sports (@tntsports) May 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cShe (Korpatsch) showed her (the chair umpire) another mark,\u201d Wang said in a mixed zone after the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not the ball I hit. In the end, I think she admitted that. She said the chair umpire checked the other mark, not the one she showed her first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Korpatsch responded in a news conference: \u201cThere were two ball marks, one was the old one, and the other one was the new one. Both of them were out. So it doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know which one was the right one, but the umpire came down and showed the mark and it was out. She came on my side because she didn\u2019t believe it, because I think her team talked too much, because they thought it was in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang acknowledged that she knew her shot was out, but felt aggrieved by how, in her view, Korpatsch had tried to influence the umpire.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t sure which mark it was, then I wouldn\u2019t show anything to the chair umpire,\u201d she said. \u201cI would just wait there, wait for her to come and make a decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why she did it. Not a big fan of it but I don\u2019t want to make any more comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang, who said she respects Korpatsch as a player, told Korpatsch at their non-handshake: \u201cI would have done it differently with the ball marks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wang<\/p>\n

\n Wang Xinyu, left, and Tamara Korpatsch\u2019s disagreement continued at the handshake. (Frank Molter \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe told me she\u2019s not OK with the ball marks and everything but I cannot say I gift her the point for nothing,\u201d said Korpatsch in her news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a bit surprised because normally we have a good relationship, we are not \u2018enemies.\u2019 I didn\u2019t give her the hand because that\u2019s not fair for me. She was unfair to come on my side, and I\u2019m not an unfair player.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said she thought I\u2019m an unfair player or something like that. We have one of the best chair umpires on the court. I don\u2019t know how to cheat, honestly. There are many cameras on court and they can check everything. It would be embarrassing to cheat like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang said the debacle did not affect her game, while Korpatsch was delighted to make the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time \u2014 even via such a strange match on a frazzling day at Roland Garros.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n