(VIDEO) Veronika Kudermetova snubs handshake with Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva after upset in Guadalajara

Andora’s Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva's biggest win of her career ended with an interesting incident, which left everyone surprised at the Guadalajara Open. The WTA 500 event is moving towards the end, where only eight players remain who will compete in the quarterfinals on Friday.

One of those players will be Kasintseva, who stunned Veronika Kudermetova of Russia in the round of 16 in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2. It was Kasintseva’s fourth consecutive straight-set win in the competition. After the match, however, an interesting situation arose that left the fans surprised.

After the contest, while walking to the net, Kudermetova decided not to shake hands with Kasintseva and instead shook the hand of the chair umpire and went straight to her seat, where she packed her bag and decided to leave the court. It is not clear why Kasintseva decided to do such a thing, as nothing happened between the two players in the match.

It is not the first time that players have unilaterally decided not to shake hands with their opponents, especially in women’s tennis. The incidents became more consistent, especially since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine. The armed conflict, which has resulted in the loss of lives on both sides, started back in 2022 and is still going on.

During the 2023 Wimbledon, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina decided not to shake hand with the former world number one Victoria Azarenka. Her decision was in protest of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Interestingly, Azarenka belongs to Belarus who are Russia’s closest ally it widely believed that the Belarusian government provides full support in their military campaign again Ukraine.

It was not the first time that Svitolina did that, back then, as she did something similar during the French Open as well, when she decided not to shake hands with the current world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, who is also from Belarus. Interestingly, after the match, it was Azarenka who was booed by the crowd, even though she had never decided not to shake hands with her opponent.

After the match, Azarenka, while speaking to the media, stated that she did not have much choice but to respect Svitolina, who did not want to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian athletes. "What should I have done? Stayed and waited?" asked Azarenka after the match. "She doesn't want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision."

Kasintseva is from Andorra, and as things stand, there is no conflict between Andorra and Russia, which makes Kudermetova's decision not to shake hands even more strange. Kasintseva’s next opponent will be America’s Iva Jovic, who cemented her spot in the quarterfinal of the ongoing mega-event after beating Colombia’s Camila Osorio in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2.