There was a bitter end to what had been a fiery match between Tamara Korpatsch and Wang Xinyu on Court 7. During the second set, No. 32 seed Wang crossed the net to argue with her German opponent over a line call, as electronic line-calling is not in use at the French Open. She was given a code violation, as players cannot cross the net mid-game.
Korpatsch went on to cause an upset, winning 6-2 2-6 6-3, and both women then approached the net, arguing about what was assumed to be the line-calling incident as the world No. 95 pointed back towards that side of the court. And they did not shake hands with each other.
“You can see a little bit of discontent between the two players. No handshake!” TNT Sports commentators said.
“It all follows the incident in the first set, where Wang got a code violation for going over to Tamara Korpatsch’s side of the court to assess whether a ball had landed in or out. A bit of bad blood between the two, but it is the 31-year-old from Germany who goes through.”
Korpatsch had raced into a 5-1 lead in the first set, but blew five set points to get broken. Then, as Wang attempted to serve to stay in the set and faced another set point, there was a disagreement over whether she had hit the ball long.
The 32nd seed crossed the net and joined Korpatsch at the baseline on her side of the net, arguing over whether the mark was in or out as fans in the stands booed and whistled.
“Over on Court 7, Tamara Korpatsch had five set points at 5-1 in the previous game. Wang was able to break, and at set point here, you can see there’s a disagreement over whether a ball landed in or out. Wang has come over to the other side of the court to have a look,” commentators said.
The chair umpire announced a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct for Wang, for crossing the net. Commentators added: “And Wang has got herself a warning for her troubles. Code violation called by the umpire, just adds a bit of tension to set point, doesn’t it? As if we need any more.”
Korpatsch was able to break in that game, taking the set 6-2. Wang forced a decider, but the world No. 95 came back to win in three. Then, chaos ensued. There was another smattering of boos as the players argued at the net, and they continued exchanging words as they walked to shake hands with the umpire, but not each other.
The German walked into the centre of the court with her arms in the air to celebrate. Korpatsch will now face either No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina or Kaitlin Quevedo.