August 31, 2025

Tennis is famous for its tricky scoring and sometimes confusing rules. But nothing stirs up more drama than the handshake after a tough match. It’s supposed to be a moment of respect. But sometimes, it feels like a pressure cooker ready to burst. On Wednesday at the U.S. Open, Jelena Ostapenko, known for her stormy post-match handshakes, showed just how tense this moment can get. She lost to Taylor Townsend, 7-5, 6-1, and then exploded during the handshake. Ostapenko said Townsend should have apologized for a special shot called a "net cord" — when the ball hits the net but still stays in play. Townsend refused, saying she didn’t owe an apology. Then Ostapenko heatedly told Townsend, "you have no education" three times! Townsend just walked away, shook hands with the umpire, and told the crowd to cheer her win. Ostapenko’s angry words went beyond her usual chill vibe. Eight years ago, at the same court, she famously looked away when shaking hands with Daria Kasatkina. Broadcaster Mary Carillo called it “the frost on the fingers.” Usually, these moments are seen as small tennis memes — funny and a little odd. But the handshake holds powerful meaning. After battling fiercely, players pause to show respect. Yet sometimes this polite ritual turns cold and tense, like a silent drama played on the big stage. Ostapenko’s frostiness also has deeper roots. Earlier in 2024, she lost three matches in a row to Victoria Azarenka, a player from Belarus. Their handshakes were icy — no eye contact or even extending a racket for a shake. Ostapenko’s Ukrainian family and Belarus’s political ties to Russia, involved in war with Ukraine, added an uneasy chill to their sport rivalry. This political tension is part of why players from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine won’t shake hands now. Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, these handshake rules changed. Sometimes fans boo players for not shaking hands, but many understand the serious reasons behind it. Ostapenko once said, “There is a reason behind it,” when asked about her cold handshakes with Azarenka, but she didn’t share more. The handshake drama isn’t just Ostapenko’s story. This year alone, tennis has seen many handshake spats. Yulia Putintseva and Maria Sakkari clashed after a match when Sakkari said, "Nobody likes you," over a rude no-look handshake. Alexander Zverev looked away from Arthur Fils after a tough loss. And Stefanos Tsitsipas had a tense handshake moment after a fierce shot at Fils’s body during a match. These fiery moments often grow from small incidents that build up during battles on court. At the Madrid Open, one player even refused to shake the other's hand twice, saying, "I'm not a fool." Some stars, like Olympic champ Zheng Qinwen, admit they show only basic respect after a loss. She told reporters, "If I lost, I will give you just a basic respect and that's it." She laughs that seeing her happy after losing would be really strange! Even forgetting to shake hands happens sometimes, like Aryna Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Daniil Medvedev, fined recently for bad behavior, said players should accept cold handshakes. "I can understand some people when they lose, you're frustrated," he said. For Taylor Townsend, the fiery moment with Ostapenko was unpleasant but just another tennis story. She said she might even post it on TikTok and move on. This tense, polite handshake moment, where hours of fierce tennis end with a few seconds of clasped hands, is a real sport drama that keeps fans watching and talking. The handshake might be forced, but the feelings behind it are very real. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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Tags: Tennis, Handshake controversy, Jelena ostapenko, Taylor townsend, Sportsmanship, Us open,