Kichenok, who refused to shake Mladenovic's hand at the Australian Open, explains his gesture

Lyudmila Kichenok, along with her doubles partner Hao-Ching Chan, faced Kristina Mladenovic and Shuai Zhang at the Australian Open on Monday.

The match sparked controversy when Kichenok refused to shake hands with Mladenovic.

She justified her action on Instagram: "I received direct threats from my opponent during the match, after unintentionally touching her with a tennis ball.

The response to my many apologies was: 'You'll see next time'.

I don't consider an act of respect like shaking hands at the end of the match with people who make verbal threats appropriate."