French Open: Tamara Korpatsch vs Wang Xinyu ends without handshake drama

There was drama and tension in the second round clash between Tamara Korpatsch and Wang Xinyu when the players refused to shake hands at the end of a rather heated clash. Korpatsch recorded the biggest win of her career at the French Open after battling to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in an intense three-set battle with Wang Xinyu 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. In doing so, she became the first German to reach the second round of women’s singles at Roland Garros.

FRENCH OPEN DAY 4 UPDATE

Playing in scorching 30-degree conditions under the Paris sun, the German battled through a two-hour and 13-minute encounter before claiming victory on her second match point.

TENSION AT THE END

Tensions flared late in the opening set when Wang strongly disputed the call and refused to accept the umpire’s decision. The chairwoman eventually stepped down to inspect the ball mark herself, but the disagreement escalated further when Wang crossed over to Tamara Korpatsch’s side of the court during the altercation, leading to a code violation warning.

Wang Xinyu received a code violation for going to the other side of the court and arguing over a call with Tamara Korpatsch. pic.twitter.com/Zlqmu0vFIv— TNT Sports (@tntsports) May 27, 2026

Moments later, Wang, who appeared to be struggling physically during the match, sent a long forehand to allow Korpatsch to finally secure the set on her seventh set point attempt.

However, the drama did not end there. After the match, Wang refused to shake hands at the net, adding an unsportsmanlike finish to an already heated encounter.

After the win, the German admitted that Wang and her decision not to shake her hand after the match.

Korpatsch said that the Chinese player can look at it all again and then decide to apologize to her.

“Actually, I got along really well with her; we weren’t enemies or anything. What happened now, I have no idea.”

“He can watch it and apologize to me,” Korpatsch said.

Korpatsch set up a third-round clash against either Elina Svitolina or Kaitlin Quevedo. But more than the match, it was the heated moments in the clash that caught the attention of the fans.

– The end

Published on:

27 May 2026 19:06 IST