In response to the refusal to shake hands in the women's doubles at the 2025 Australian Open, Ukrainian star Chichenok recently clarified that the reason was that one of the opponents, the French Meradenoviki, made a verbal threat during the match, which caused heated discussions among fans.

Chichenok (right)

Chichenok's trip to Melbourne Park partnered Chinese Taipei's Zhan Haoqing in women's doubles, and recently lost to the ninth seeds Zhang Shuai/Meradenovicki of China 6:7 (3:7), 2:6 in the third round, and the fifth seeds stopped in the round of six. After the match, Chichenok only shook hands with Zhang Shuai in front of the net, much to the displeasure of Meradenovic, who criticized her lack of sportsmanship in an interview on the court, and even bluntly said that it would only make her more motivated.

Now Chichenok is not to be outdone, and posted a limited explanation on Instagram: "I want to make my position clear. I was threatened very directly after accidentally hitting my opponent with the ball, and she apologized to me many times, but she only replied: 'Be careful next time', and I don't think it would be appropriate to respect the opponent who is verbally threatening. And tagged WTA, the Australian Open, and the broadcast media "Channel 9" on social media.