A decade-long feud continues at US Open as Jelena Ostapenko centre of Taiwanese tennis drama

When Jelena Ostapenko is around, controversy is sure to not be far behind. A women's doubles match at the US Open was hotly competed with the Latvian and her partner, Hsieh Su-wei, prevailing 6-4, 6-4 against Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint.

The latter pairing had recently defeated Serena and Venus Williams in a thrilling contest on Arthur Ashe Stadium and were hopeful of continuing their streak in this tournament against some tricky competitors in the last-16.

Hsieh and Ostapenko were the number four seeds and one of the favourites to triumph at Flushing Meadows. This has since been boosted by confirming their spots in the quarter-final, but not without some heated scenes on court.

Throughout the match, Chan's coach got the attention of Ostapenko, but not for the right reasons. They started provoking them both in Chinese with Ostapenko stating that they had been clapping and shouting after their mistakes.

The former Roland Garros champion went over to the umpire to let out some steam. She was told by her Taiwanese teammate about what had been said, and she was not happy. After the match was eventually won in straight sets, Ostapenko ignited more tension as she got her own back, loudly cheering in the direction of the opposition box.

Chan seemed to be irked by this and while shaking Ostapenko's hand, she outright refused to acknowledge her fellow countrywomen on court, trudging off to her chair and out of the competition.

This is not just a one-time thing between Hsieh and Chan with the pair having history with each other. In this example, Ostapenko was dragged into the controversy but it all stems from the Taiwan tennis players.

This goes back years, first starting when Hsieh believed that Chan and her sister, Latisha Chan, were getting better treatment by the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association in terms of funding and coaching among other reasons. This resulted in an allegation, and the tension between the two was apparent.

It spiked at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil where Hsieh withdrew from the women's doubles. Their relationship would be very strained from this point onwards. A year later, Hsieh fumes at Latisha after she withdrew from a mixed doubles competition at the last minute, forcing Hsieh's brother, Cheng-peng, to subsequently forfeit.

On the topic of them not shaking hands, this occurred twice in China last year at the China Open and the Ningbo Open where Hsieh was not willing to shake her opponents hand on court.

This time around at Flushing Meadows, it was Chan who did not shake Hsieh's hand as the boiling rivalry prolongs. Two of Taiwan's greatest tennis players who are still going strong at the top of the sport, it is a shame that it has to be like this but also a mouth-watering prospect for drama-seeking tennis fans who were guaranteed for fireworks, especially when Ostapenko was also thrown into the mix.

Nevertheless, there is still a tennis tournament to be played with Ostapenko and Hsieh looking to seal more glory. They will take on the eighth seeds Diana Shnaider and Elise Mertens with the number one seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend possible semi-final opponents.