Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad-Maia claimed their maiden doubles title together at the 2023 Madrid Open on Sunday evening, but issues arose after the match which have been highlighted on social media after beating Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
Unlike the men's doubles matches and the singles tournaments, all four players who are all top singles stars and popular players in their own right as well as reaching the doubles final didn't have the chance to speak.
There were no speeches in the post-match portion with only the trophies handed out. Gauff spoke up on social media and put her own message which saw Ons Jabeur chime in saying that it was 'sad and unacceptable'.
Pegula herself just put zipped mouth emojis, while Azarenka retweeted Pegula's tweet and wrote "Hard to explain to Leo (her son) that mommy isn’t able to say hello to him at the trophy ceremony."
A fairly strange occurrence and one that hasn't been helped this week, with Sabalenka and Alcaraz' cake storm as well as the ongoing debate about prize money inequality in the sport and this is another example which could raise discussion.
so unfortunate that you were not given a chance to address the crowd and your opponents. This is sad and unacceptable 🤯
Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:( But thank you to the fans for supporting us and women’s tennis this week! Thanks @JLPegula for always keeping it fun on the court and hitting unreal clutch shots hahahaha Lastly, big congratulations Vika and Bia 🎉💗
Madrid Open cut the speech session for the women’s doubles final between Coco Gauff/Jessica Pegula & Victoria Azarenka/Beatriz Haddad Maia Very strange to say the least. I know the men’s doubles final had speeches.
🤐🤔🤷🏻♀️
Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:( But thank you to the fans for supporting us and women’s tennis this week! Thanks @JLPegula for always keeping it fun on the court and hitting unreal clutch shots hahahaha Lastly, big congratulations Vika and Bia 🎉💗
Hard to explain to Leo that mommy isn’t able to say hello to him at the trophy ceremony
