Dayana Yastremskaya refused to even stand next to our Anna Blinkova for a photograph and received a well-deserved reaction.
Matches between Russians and Ukrainians in tennis are a common occurrence. Everyone has long been accustomed to the fact that after such confrontations, Ukrainian representatives refuse to shake hands, but sometimes their behavior still surprises.
This happened after the 1/8 finals meeting at a major tournament in San Diego, where the Ukrainian Yastremska staged an incomprehensible show that caused shock and indignation.
What happened after the match
Before the match against Yastremskaya, Russian Anna Blinkova beat former world number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in three sets. Despite this, she was not a favorite against fifth seed Diana. However, many assessed the chances of both athletes as approximately equal.
The Ukrainian started the game stronger and more confident, making an early break, and then brought the matter to a 5:2 score in her favor in the opening set. However, a moment occurred that changed the course of the meeting. Blinkova managed to return to the game and first equalized the score, and then put the pressure on her opponent in the tiebreaker, although everything there was very ambiguous.
In any case, the psychological head start was clearly on the side of the Russian, who did not leave Yastremskaya a single opportunity in the second set. And this despite the fact that Anna had obvious problems with her serve – zero aces and five double faults. But even with such a set, the Russian looked much better and achieved well-deserved success – 6:2 and 2-0 in sets.
Although the most interesting thing began just after the end of the meeting. Nobody expected a handshake between Blinkova and Yastremskaya, but a banal photo at the net did not seem intimidating. However, the Ukrainian put on a real show when the American tournament organizers tried to persuade her to stand next to Anna. Moreover, this had to be done on opposite sides of the net, so there would be no contact. However, for Dayana it turned out to be impossible even just to be close to the Russian woman.
The American, conducting a dialogue with the athlete, was clearly perplexed, but then she finally gave up and simply asked the girls to take separate photographs. The behavior of the Ukrainian tennis player caused a strong reaction on social networks, and someone even accused Yastremskaya of deliberate defeat.
— Unreasonable Ukrainian tennis players still cannot show respect. This is so stupid. Your whole country is mired in corruption,” wrote Zachary Ashe.
– Yastremska should receive a financial fine from the WTA every time she refuses to shake hands or take a simple photo. A disgusting example of sportsmanship,” said The Gambling Tailor.
– I’m glad you lost, Diana. Grow up and start shaking hands with Russian women. Everyone will forever remember how you and your compatriots showed shameful and childish behavior. Be glad that for some reason your country was given billions of dollars,” ZM noted.
– You’re just a loser. It looks like you lost the match on purpose, it was obvious from the outside. Just an unpleasant person who is a disgrace to world tennis,” wrote Rushabh Patwa.
And there were many such messages, although the excitement around the competition in San Diego is clearly less than around the Grand Slam tournaments. It is also worth remembering that just a little over a month ago, the same Yastremskaya refused to shake the hand of Varvara Gracheva, who changed her citizenship from Russian to French. That is, what irritates a Ukrainian woman is not even the passport itself, but the person’s national identity. And this is already called discrimination.
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
Austrian tennis player Sebastian Ofner (ATP 131) suffered a disappointing defeat in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open qualifiers.
In the semi-finals of the selection, the Austrian player lost to the US representative in three sets Nisheshu Basavareddy (ATP 239) in 2 hours 32 minutes. Basavareddy took the victory over Ofner in the third set super tiebreaker.
Sebastian was ahead 7:1 in the super tiebreaker and started celebrating his victory after gaining a point. Sebastian started walking towards the goal and the referee told him the match wasn’t over yet.
As a result, Ofner lost 11:13 and missed two match points: one at 10:9 on the return, the other at 11:10 on serve.
Basavareddy will compete against George Loffagen (Great Britain, ATP 211) in the Australian Open qualifying final.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
On January 14, all second round matches in tough tournaments ended WTA 500 in Adelaide And WTA 250 in HobartIt will take place parallel to the Australian Open 2026 qualifying match (Melbourne).
In Adelaide, Dayana Yastremskaya’s felon Katerina Sinyakova lost to Diana Schneider in the second round.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
Second-seeded five-hundred Madison Keys knocked out Tereza Valentova, and eighth-seeded Victoria Mboko fought Anna Kalinskaya.
Victoria Mboko [8] – 🏳️ Anna Kalinskaya – 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (8:6) Teresa Valentova – Madison Keys [2] – 4:6, 1:6
WTA 500 Adelaide. Quarter final matches
topnet
🏳️Mirra Andreeva [3] – Ayla Tomljanovic [WC]
🏳️Diana Schneider [9] – Emma Navarro [6]
bottom of the network
Kimberly Birrell- Jacqueline Christian [Q] Victoria Mboko [8] – Madison Keys [2]
Video review of match day in Adelaide
In Hobart, top seed Emma Raducanu advanced to the quarter-finals without a fight – Magdalena French withdrew from her second round match.
Olga Danilovich, who defeated McCartney Kessler and advanced to the second place, also defeated Peyton Stearns in the 1/8 final.
Third-seeded Iva Jovic crushes her opponents: The young American first gave up just one game to Janice Tjen and then defeated Renata Sarasua with scores of 6:1, 6:2. Her next opponent will be Magda Linette.
WTA 250 Hobart. 1/8 final
topnet
Emma Raducanu [1] – Magdalena French – WO., Raducanu Rebecca Shramkova – Talia Preston [WC] – 4:6, 1:6
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
(Adelaide) Leylah Annie Fernandez and her Hungarian playing partner Timea Babos fell 7-6 (3), 6-7 (6) and 6-10 to the Czech Katerina Siniakova and the Chinese Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Adelaide tennis tournament on Wednesday.
Fernandez and Babos bowed after a tight duel lasting one hour and 59 minutes in front of the second seeds of the doubles tournament.
Siniakova and Zhang will face Kazakh Anna Danilina and Serbian Aleksandra Krunic, fourth seeds in the doubles, in the final four.
The Quebecoise, 22e world racket, lost to Russian Diana Shnaider 7-5, 6-3 in singles on Monday.
Furthermore, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko, eighth seed, will meet in the quarter-finals of the women’s singles with American Madison Keys, second seed, at the end of the evening.
Mboko is playing her first official WTA singles tournament in 2026, and her first since Hong Kong, which she won, in November 2025.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Maria Bouzkova [LL] – 6:3, 6:1
