Tennis star Lyudmyla Kichenok has claimed she was threatened on the court during her women’s doubles loss at the Australian Open on Monday, leading to her refusing to shake the hand of her opponent, Kristina Mladenovic.
Kichenok appeared visibly angry when she and partner Chan Hoa-ching came to the net after match point and she pointedly ignored Mladenovic when she stuck out her hand.
The Ukrainian dropped her bombshell allegation against the French star on Instagram on Wednesday night.
‘I would like to clarify the situation that has happened in my third round AO match against Kristina Mladenovic,’ she wrote.Â
‘Publicly accused of bad sportsmanship. I would like to say my word.
‘I received very direct threat from my opponent during the match after unintentionally hitting her with a tennis ball.
Lyudmyla Kichenok (pictured) has alleged she was threatened during her third-round women’s doubles loss at the Australian Open on MondayÂ
The Ukrainian claims Kristina Mladenovic (pictured) menaced her after she accidentally hit her with a ball, despite her repeated apologies
Kichenok (pictured) defended herself against accusations of bad sportsmanship in a pair of strongly worded posts on Instagram
‘The response to my numerous apologies was “You watch out next time”.
‘I don’t consider appropriate the act of respect like shake of hands in the end of the match with people who use verbal threats. Period.’Â
Kichenok then put up another post outlining the effects the alleged threats had on her, tagging the World Tennis Association, the Australian Open’s official account and host broadcaster Channel Nine’s Wide World of Sports.
Under the headings ‘Violation of Sportsmanship’, ‘Psychological Impact’ and ‘Deterioration of the Tennis Community’, she wrote ‘threatening language creates a hostile environment’.
Kichenok also said threats can ‘create fear, anxiety and stress’ and ‘contribute to a negative atmosphere within the tennis community’, leading to potential new players being discouraged from taking up the sport.
Footage of the match shows Kichenok (left) refusing to shake hands with Mladenovic (right) after match point in Melbourne
After the match, Mladenovic slammed Kichenok and Chan’s behaviour.
‘If you want my real, honest opinion, I think the opponents woke me up because they were showing unsportsmanship during my serve and I got really mad. I was like, “OK, this is how the match is starting”,’ she said.
‘It woke me up and I was very composed with my partner and we fought together to find a solution. That was a trigger point for me.’
The Australian Open is now over for both women after Mladenovic – who is a six-time doubles grand slam champion- and Zhang fell to top seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova in their quarter-final clash on Wednesday, losing 6-1, 7-5.
Mladenovic had not made any public comment on Kichenok’s allegations at the time of writing.
Kichenok, 32, has been ranked as high as third in the world in doubles, after winning her first WTA title with her sister in 2015.
