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