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Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur was seen having a fun exchange with Daria Kasatkina during their practice session for the upcoming 2024 Madrid Open. Jabeur even gave a Russian player a cheeky warning for "code violation".
The qualifying rounds of the 2024 Madrid Open have been underway since April 22. The main draw will begin shortly on April 24 and the practice sessions are in full swing for all the players.
Now, during one practice session at the Madrid Open, a fun interaction between the two WTA stars came to light. In an Instagram video posted by WTA, Daria Kasatkina was seen throwing a leg-kick towards the 2022 Madrid Open champion. The World No. 9 cheekily responded by giving Kasatkina a warning for code violation as she demanded video footage from the camera person.
The post was captioned:
"VAR check for @kasatkina on @onsjabeur?"
VAR (Video Assistant Referee) is a technique used in football to assist on-field referees at critical and dubious moments.
Here you can watch the clip:
Ons Jabeur also shared the video of the incident on her Instagram story with a caption:
"Code Violation warning... @kasatina." (Smile emoji)
The player from Tunisia further asked the media about who's better between herself and Kasatkina. Jabeur then celebrated the reply from the reporter in Spanish saying "Vamos".
The year 2024 has been a tough one for Jabeur. She recently faced an early exit at the 2024 Stuttgart Open losing to Italy's Jasmine Paolini in the last 16. Kasatkina, meanwhile, reached the final of the Charleston Open. She lost to USA's Danielle Collins in straight sets. It is yet to be decided who they will face in the first round of the Madrid Open 2024.
"I'm ready for it" - Daria Kasaktina to Ons Jabeur before their semifinal clash at Charleston Open 2023
After defeating Madison Keys in the quarterfinal of the 2023 Charleston Open, Daria Kasatkina sent a cheeky message to her opponent in the semifinals, Ons Jabeur.
During her on-court interview, Kasatkina jokingly made a point about how she plans to tackle Jabeur's drop-shots during their clash. She was quoted as saying:
“Ons, I know you’re going to make a lot of drop shots… and I am ready for it."
Though it was friendly banter, the 26-year-old later said that she would rather not see trash-talking in an intelligent sport like tennis. She said:
“For me, tennis is a bit different. I think it’s not going to work, in my opinion,” she told Weissman. “I know fighters, basketball [players]… especially in the United States, it’s a very popular thing. We are not from United States, so we are not used to it."
