WATCH: Iga Swiatek & Simona Halep share awkward handshake at WTL after Romanian's controversial comments on World No. 2's doping row

Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep shared an awkward handshake after their match at the World Tennis League. The Pole teamed up with Paula Badosa while the Romanian joined Jasmine Paolini and it was the latter team that clinched the match 7-5.

Swiatek had tested positive for trimetazidine after failing an out-of-competition doping test in August 2024. After much investigation, the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency) determined that the Pole bore 'No Significant Fault or Negligence' and handed her a minor one-month suspension.

Halep, who was handed a four-year suspension for testing positive for Roxadustat at the 2022 US Open, returned to tennis this year after her suspension was reduced. She had expressed her disappointment at the verdicts of Jannik Sinner and Swiatek's cases, whose verdicts had been much more lenient.

After their doubles match at the ongoing World Tennis League, Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep shared an awkward handshake at the net. While the Pole shook hands with Paolini first and exchanged some words, she didn't interact with the Romanian as both women shook hands and immediately went towards the chair umpire.

When Swiatek's case was made public, Halep took to Instagram to question why there was such a 'big difference' in treatment and judgment between her and the World No. 2's case.

"I'm sitting and trying to understand, but it's really impossible for me to understand something like this. I stand and ask myself, why is there such a big difference in treatment and judgment? I can’t find and I don’t think there can be a logical answer. It can only be bad will from ITIA, the organization that has done absolutely everything to destroy me despite the evidence," Simona Halep wrote.

However, Iga Swiatek was of the opinion that her case shouldn't be compared to Sinner's or Halep's.

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"I lost my sleep again" - Simona Halep on how witnessing Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek's verdicts brought a rush of negativity in her mind

Simona Halep - Source: Getty

In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Simona Halep said that she was pained by the 'unacceptable' way the ITIA handled her case compared to Jannik Sinner or Iga Swiatek's.

“Big pain, big pain. I felt like they [the ITIA] were unfair to me before, but now it’s even more. I was so, so upset and so sad when I saw the situation. It’s just unacceptable, from my point of view.”

She opened up about how the two cases and their results brought a rush of negativity to her mind.

"I lost my sleep again. I lost it for the two years during the process [of contesting her own doping ban]. Then I got it back. And now, after [what happened], for a few days, yeah, I lost it again. All the negative thinking, negative thoughts, it’s not easy to handle.”

On the tennis side of things, the Simona Halep starring Kites defeated the Iga Swiatek starring Eagles 25-20 to kick off their campaign at the World Tennis League. On the other hand, the Falcons defeated the Hawks 29-26 to start on a winning note.