Donna Vekic slammed over 'unacceptable' act after Indian Wells match
The No.29 seed did not budge when it came to the post-match handshake.
Tennis fans have called out Donna Vekic after she appeared to snub Lesia Tsurenko's handshake after her round of 64 loss at Indian Wells. Vekic had defeated Tsurenko at the Monterray Open last week - on her way to the title - when the Ukrainian retired injured.
And the pair were up against each other once again in the round of 64 at the 'fifth grand slam', which saw the Ukrainian progress in a tight 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 match. However, it was the drama after the match that had fans baffled.
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After the victory, Tsurenko waited to greet Vekic at the net to shake hands. Vekic didn't bother to approach her opponent and just proceeded to pack her racquets into her kit.
Tsurenko then walked over to her opponent's side of the court with an outstretched hand, but Vekic did no reciprocate. Vekic packed her bags and swiftly exited court.
The Croatian's move didn't sit well with most of those watching the match. Vekic was the humble winner of Monterray last week, but fans weren't happy with her snubbing Tsurenko this time around.
Fans claimed even if there was tension between the pair, at minimum a racquet touch would have been acceptable.
After their match last week in Monterrey in which Lesia Tsurenko retired in set 2 to Donna Vekic (and shook hands), Vekic refuses to shake Tsurenko’s hand after the Tsurenko comeback win over Vekic at @BNPPARIBASOPEN just now.
Tension scenes there. #WTA pic.twitter.com/DIpuNPyIbW— Andrew Jerell Jones, Luke 1:37 (IG:twdbk3) (@sluggahjells) March 10, 2023
I guess it’s what you get for acting like you are about to retire after every points and slow the game.
Lesia is doing it for years… someone had to show how to behave. https://t.co/GoAs5fwzPr— Team Vekic (@Team_Vekic) March 10, 2023
Being a sore loser is one thing but refusing a handshake is a complete disrespect towards the opponent. Totally unacceptable ❌️ https://t.co/7VS6PJUDUo
— Greg (@gregariousone_) March 10, 2023
@TennisPodcast aggro alert! No handshake between Vekic and Tsurenko!
— Rishi Khanna (@riskhanna) March 10, 2023
Backstory doesn’t matter, Vekic should have shaken Tsurenko’s hand after the match. V poor sportsmanship
— Liz (@uh_lizz) March 11, 2023
Whatever the reason I’m disapproving of the narrative where such behaviors are getting excused. Racket tap is the bare minimum.
— SariL. (@Sarilec) March 11, 2023
Vekic has been in outstanding form this year having moved to 14-2 after winning Monterrey and reaching the quarter-final of the Australian Open. However, fans didn't excuse her apparent snub at the end of her Indian Wells loss.
Iga Swiatek bounces back at Indian Wells
While Swiatek suffered her first defeat in quite some time at the Dubai Tennis Championship, she started off her title defence with a dominant start with a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of American Claire Liu. The top seed won the first 11 games of the second-round clash before claiming victory in just over an hour on Saturday, the fifth time this season she's dropped just one game in winning a match.
Beaten in the fourth round at the Australian Open in January, Swiatek improved to 13-3 in 2023 with the win. All 13 of those wins have come in straight sets.
Meanwhile, despite supporting strapping before the tournament on her wrists, Emma Raducanu knocked out 20th seed Magda Linette 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to reach the third round of Indian Wells and notch her biggest win since triumphing at the US Open in 2021. The 20-year-old Briton fell into a 4-1 first set hole but rallied from there, dictating points with her forehand to push Linette deep into the court.
She sealed the win by whipping a forehand winner down the line to bring the fans to their feet on a warm and windy day in the Southern California desert. The win marked Raducanu's first back-to-back victories since September and is a hopeful sign that she may be moving beyond the multiple health issues that have beset her of late.
with AAP
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