"Irritating behavior, I understand Jelena Ostapenko";"I would've slapped her" - Fans back Latvian's cold handshake with Ons Jabeur after Madrid drama

Tennis fans backed Jelena Ostapenko over her cold handshake with Ons Jabeur at the end of their fourth-round Madrid Open match, which ended in the Tunisian's favor.

Jabeur's husband Kamoun cheered for her incessantly throughout the match, with his cheers often being the loudest when Ostapenko missed her shots. His behavior may have affected the Latvian as she lost the first set 0-6.

Controversy erupted in the second set after the 2017 French Open champion won a service game from the end where Jabeur's team was seated. Ostapenko let out a loud scream in the direction of the Tunisian's box, making her displeasure at her team's behavior clear.

Ultimately though, it was Jabeur who won the second set 6-4 and progressed to the quarterfinals. A tense handshake between the Tunisian and the Latvian followed.

On social media, the majority of tennis fans sided with Ostapenko. One set of fans expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of Jabeur's husband.

"Quite irritating behavior even for me in front of the screen. I understand Penko perfectly, I had to mute the TV," one fan wrote.

"Just saw a little of this one, whilst I love Ons Jabeur as a player and person, I'm less keen on her box yelling with delight each time Jelena Ostapenko missed a line. Encouragement and support is great, but disrespecting the opponent didn't feel right for the few games I saw," another fan commented.

"Ons's husband is LOUD," chimed in another fan.

"There seems to be some pretty annoying screaming from Ons's box tbf, mostly from her husband(?), so Penko's irritation is understandable," wrote another fan.

Another set of fans was of the opinion that Jabeur deserved a much worse handshake from Ostapenko.

"It should have been colder," wrote one fan.

"Agree. Ons husband was a real jerk", wrote a fan who agreed with the post above.

"Giving her any kind of a handshake after THAT is generous tbh…," another fan chimed in.

"I mean i would’ve slapped her so," another fan wrote.

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Ons Jabeur set to face either Coco Gauff or Madison Keys in the Madrid Open quarterfinals

Ons Jabeur in action against Jelena Ostapenko at the 2024 Madrid Open

Ons Jabeur, who won the Madrid Open in 2022, will face either Coco Gauff or Madison Keys in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament this year.

While Jabeur trails Gauff in the pair's head-to-head on the WTA Tour 2-4, she leads Keys 2-0. The Tunisian's last meeting against reigning US Open champion Gauff came in an embarrassing 0-6, 1-6 defeat at the 2023 WTA Finals.

Jabeur's last meeting with Keys came at the 2022 Silicon Valley Classic, which the Tunisian won 7-5, 6-1.