Aussie tennis player Maya Joint was an innocent bystander as drama erupted between her doubles partner Chan Hao-ching and opponents Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko at the US Open on Tuesday. Joint and Chan were beaten 4-6 4-6 in the Round of 16 by their fourth-seeded opponents.
It brought an end to their campaign in which they beat Serena and Venus Williams in the first round. Joint and Chan won a thriller in the second round, but couldn’t get past Hsieh and Ostapenko on Tuesday.
Maya Joint was caught up in the middle as Chan Hao-ching refused to shake hands with Hsieh Su-wei. Image: US Open/Channel 9
There were spiteful scenes at the end of the match when Ostapenko and Hsieh both screamed in the direction of Chan’s camp in the crowd to celebrate their win. Chan then refused to shake Hsieh’s hand at the net and stormed off court after only congratulating Ostapenko.
Joint seemed perplexed by the whole situation as Ostapenko seemed stunned that Chan refused to shake hands with Hsieh. Comically, Ostapenko didn’t initially shake hands with the chair umpire amid the chaos.
At one point during the match, Ostapenko called for the tournament supervisor and seemed to be suggesting that Chan’s camp were coaching from the stands. Ostapenko and Hsieh both seemed to be perturbed by the actions of the Chan camp throughout the match.
The situation apparently stems from a long-running beef between Chan and Hsieh, who are both from Chinese Taipei. According to reports, Hsieh has previously called out the Chinese Taipei Tennis Association for allegedly favouring Chan and her sister Yung-jan with funding and resources. Hsieh withdrew from the doubles event at the Rio Olympics in 2016 over the issue, which reportedly caused deep fractures between her and the Chan family.
Drama-filled US Open for Maya Joint
It caps off an eventful US Open for Aussie tennis player Joint, who took a set off Elina Svitolina in the first round of the singles but ultimately lost in three. It was the first time in the 20-year-old’s career that she won a set against a top-10 opponent.
She then beat Serena Williams for the second time in two months after knocking her out in the first round of the singles at Wimbledon. On both occasions Serena skipped her mandatory post-match press conference but escaped a fine.
Jelena Ostapenko was perplexed by the situation. Image: US Open/Channel 9