Aus Open handshake drama explodes with Lyudmyla Kichenok accusing Kristina Mladenovic of a ‘verbal threat’
Ukrainian tennis star Lyudmyla Kichenok has hit back at Kristina Mladenovic after being accused of bad sportsmanship following their fiery doubles clash at the Australian Open on Monday.
Kichenok and Chan Hao-ching, the fifth seeds, fell to a straight-sets defeat to Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai, but there was drama after the match when the pairs went to shake hands.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Mladenovic and Kichenok in awkward net exchange.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.As Zhang and Chan embraced each other, Mladenovic had her hand out for Kichenok, but the Ukrainian completely ignored her.
Kichenok did quickly shake hands with Zhang before rushing off the court.
Mladekovic and Chan also shook hands and appeared to exchange friendly words at the net.
But Kichenok never acknowledged Mladekovic.
Speaking after the match, Mladekovic said there was some unsportsmanlike behaviour from her opponent during the first set, which she used an inspiration.
“Very slow start, but if you want my real honest opinion, I think the opponents woke me up because they were showing un-sportsmanship during my serve and I got really mad. I was like ‘OK, this is how the match is starting’,” Mladenovic said in her on-court interview.
“It woke me up and I was very composed with my partner and we fought together to find a solution. That was a trigger point for me and it woke me up.”
However, Kichenok has hit back at Mladekovic, claiming she was threatened after accidentally hitting her with a ball.
“I would like to clarify the situation that has happened in my 3rd round AO match against Kristina Mladenovic,” she wrote on social media.
“Publicly accused of bad sportsmanship. I would like to say my word.
“I received very direct threat from my opponent during the match after unintentionally hitting her with a tennis ball.
“The response to my numerous apologies was ‘you watch out next time’.
“I don’t consider appropriate the act of respect like shake of hands in the end of the match with people who use verbal threats. Period.”
Mladenovic and Zhang went on to lose their next match against top seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova.
Originally published on 7NEWS Sport
