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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.

Donna Vekic packs her bags while Lesia Tsurenko waits for a handshake.
Donna Vekic (pictured left) has been called out after she appeared to snub Lesia Tsurenko's handshake during Indian Wells. (Images: Twitter)

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.

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.

Donna Vekic celebrates a point at Indian Wells.
Donna Vekic (pictured) caused uproar at Indian Wells afterr appearing to snub Lesia Tsurenko at Indian Wells. (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images) (Robert Prange via Getty Images)

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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