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As the tour gets increasingly competitive with each passing season, tennis players react differently to the pressure of needing to consistently win. While some players take the demands of a busy and intense calendar in their stride, others vent their emotions on court when defeat becomes too much of a bitter pill to swallow.
As a result, the customary post-match embrace or handshake gets played out differently after each encounter, and in extreme cases, leads to altercations - especially in matches that involve controversial points.
Let's take a look at 5 instances of fiery post-match exchanges on both the ATP and the WTA tours:
#5. Fabio Fognini vs Aijaz Bedene
The 2022 Hamburg European Open witnessed a bit of drama as Fabio Fognini and Aijaz Bedene got involved in a heated post-match argument that very nearly got out of hand.
Fognini has a bit of a reputation for losing his composure on the court and has paid the price for his rants and outbursts. The Italian was suspended from the US Open in 2017 for using misogynistic language on court about a female umpire and was fined in 2019 for saying Wimbledon should be bombed.
In Hamburg, chair umpire Aurelie Tourte was called into action after the contest ended with both players getting involved in an animated altercation after the Italian won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
Fans looked on with intrigue from the stands as Bedene confronted his opponent even as the chair umpire failed to separate the sparring players. The altercation continued as Fognini led Bedene back to the court and pointed to marks on the surface, which appeared to be the origin of the heated dispute.
As the players left the court and looked to be heading back to their seats, the spectators clapped, assuming that the matter was settled but the fiery duo continued to squabble with Bedene unwilling to accept the defeat.
#4. Jordan Thompson vs Elias Ymer
Jordan Thompson and Elias Ymer battled for two hours in the first round of the 2021 Citi Open before the Aussie player lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 but not before a contentious point in the final game resulted in a stormy end to the proceedings.
Thompson was serving to stay in the match when a drop shot of his was returned by Ymer. Thompson believed the ball had bounced twice but the Swede thought otherwise.
"Are you gonna take that?," queried to which Ymer replied “I didn’t see it”.
Ymer went on to win the match but a heated exchange followed which was initiated by Thompson who felt he was hard done by. The Swede then crossed the net with the umpire having to intervene to separate the duo.
#3. Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Daniil Medvedev
To put it mildly, Stefanos Tsitispas and Daniil Medvedev aren't exactly the best of friends.
The animosity between the two rivals appears to have begun in the heat of Miami in 2018 after Tsitsipas took a toilet break and failed to apologize for a netcord point during their first-round match.
"Hey Stefanos, you want to look at me and talk? You go emergency toilet for five minutes during and then you hit let and you don’t say sorry. You think you’re a good kid?" the Russian raged.
The cold handshake at the 2022 Australian Open semifinals, which the Russian won, was a result of the troubled history between the two players which was aggravated by Tsitsipas receiving coaching from his father during the match.
Medvedev yelled at the umpire, wanting to know how his opponent was being allowed to receive tips from the stands.
"His father can talk every point! His father can talk every point!” screamed Medvedev. “Will you answer my question? Can you answer my question? Can you answer my question, please? Can his father talk every point? Oh my God, you are so bad, man. How can you be so bad in a semi-final of a Grand Slam? Look at me! I’m talking to you!”
As of now, the two players who are set to dominate men's tennis in the years to come are nowhere close to a reconciliation.
#2. Naomi Broady vs Jelena Ostapenko
One of the most controversial matches on the WTA tour happened during the 2016 ASB Classic when Naomi Broady faced Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.
Ostapenko lost her cool during the second set tiebreak even as she appeared to let go of her racquet that veered off in the direction of a ball kid.
While it was unclear whether the Latvian had done so deliberately, Broady confronted the umpire and demanded that her opponent be defaulted for throwing her racquet at the ballboy.
Despite the umpire's polite refusal to comply with her demands, the Briton persisted and the WTA supervisor had to be called onto the court to deal with the issue.
The WTA supervisor too decided against defaulting Ostapenko, which resulted in Broady dramatically bursting into tears before agreeing to continue with the match.
Even so, it took a while for the action to restart after Ostapenko decided to state her case to the umpire before Broady fired an ace and stared down her opponent before going on to win the contest.
The drama, however, continued as Ostapenko refused to shake Broady's hand at the net after initially extending it, which infuriated the Briton once again.
"Shee hit the ball-boy with the racquet," she declared before acknowledging the cheers of the Auckland crowd.
The heated exchanges continued with Broady having a go at Ostapenko, who responded in kind before leaving the court.
#1. Jelena Ostapenko vs Ajla Tomljanovic
2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko found herself in the midst of controversy yet again, this time at Wimbledon against Ajla Tomljanovic.
Trailing 4-0 in the decider, the Latvian decided she needed to see her trainer, stating that she was finding it difficult to continue owing to pain.
"You know she's lying, right? We all know,” was her opponent's response to the chair umpire.
A medical timeout followed after which Ostapenko did win a game but eventually lost the third-round match 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The two players had a lot to say to each other after Tomljanovic initially attempted to avoid the post-match handshake.
"If you think I'm faking it, you can go to the physio," said Ostapenko to her opponent.
"I hope you feel better," was the Aussie's initial response, but Ostapenko was having none of it.
"Your'e behavior is terrible, terrible," said the Latvian. "You have zero respect."
Not to be undone, Tomljanovic had one last swipe at Ostapenko.
"Your'e the one to talk", the Aussie quipped much to the amusement of some of the onlookers.
