‘Why should I?’: Aussie snubbed in fresh handshake drama as tennis spat resurfaces

Australia’s Alexei Popyrin has become embroiled in tennis’ newest feud, while countryman Aleksandar Vukic’s excellent run continued at the Paris Masters.

World No. 47 Popyrin was beaten 6-4, 6-3 in the first round in Paris by 13th seed Alexander Bublik, who sparked controversy by not shaking the Australian’s hand at the net once the match was over.

Bublik, who was at the net, as Popyrin’s backhand sailed out instead shook the chair umpire’s hand, walked to his bench to put racquet away and then returned to the court to celebrate to the crowd, all while ignoring his opponent.

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The Parisian crowd were not impressed, booing the Kazakh, who has been a thorn in the side of Australians this year, having come from two sets to love down to defeat Alex de Minaur in the second round at Roland Garros.

In a post-match interview spoken in Russian, the official language of Kazakhstan, Bublik explained that the snub was because Popyrin did not apologise after hitting the net cord twice in a rally before winning a breaking point early in the second set.

“There’s tennis etiquette... If [my opponent] doesn’t follow it, why should I?” Bublik said.

It was also the third first round match in a row that Popyrin has lost since he was beaten by Jannik Sinner in the second round of the US Open.

The pair have fiery history as they clashed in Madrid in the lead up to the French Open earlier this year.

They exchanged words at the net after Bublik won in straight sets on clay in the Spanish capital, but sat down and delayed play mid-match following a contentious call on his first serve.

Automatic line calling was in play, and a faint call of ‘out’ came from the speaker system after Popyrin had returned Bublik’s serve.

The chair umpire called it a fault, but the Kazakh protested, saying it may have come from a nearby court and he should been given a first serve.

The tournament supervisor and referee eventually had to march out on court to get Bublik to keep playing.

It was a much better day for Popyrin’s compatriot Vukic, who came through qualifying before defeating French wildcard Terence Atmane 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the first round.

Vukic next faces the tough task of American fourth seed Taylor Fritz, who received a first round bye.

The winner of that second round clash could meet de Minaur in the quarter-finals, provided them and the top ranked Australian get through the third round.

Sixth seed de Minaur was also afforded a first round bye and will face either 25th-seeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor or Canadian Gabriel Diallo in the Round of 32.

The Australian’s section of the draw contains plenty of tricky opponents with potential match-ups against 10th-seeded Karen Khachanov, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, or Joao Fonseca, the 19-year-old Brazilian who won the ATP 500 in Basel on Sunday and is touted as a future grand slam winner awaiting in the third round.

Carlos Alcaraz is also in de Minaur’s half of the draw.

In other matches, Grigor Dimitrov returned to action by beating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in the first round as the event made its debut in its new La Defense Arena home.

After being held for nearly 40 years at Paris’ Bercy Arena, the tournament has moved across the city to set up shop in the cavernous multi-purpose arena.

Opened in 2017, the venue is best known as the home ground of French Top 14 rugby club Racing 92 and for having played host to the swimming events at the Olympics last year. It also welcomes concerts and political rallies.

Now in its current guise as a tennis venue, La Defense Arena boasts the second largest showpiece court on the current global tennis circuit -- second only in size terms to the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was the scene of a triumphant comeback for former world number three Dimitrov as he played his first match since having to retire injured from his fourth round match at Wimbledon when leading two sets to love against eventual champion Jannik Sinner.

“Winning or losing this match today would have been a win for me, I’m just so happy to be able to compete again,” 34-year-old Dimitrov said on-court.

“I had to be extremely patient with myself... clearly I’m playing against such an amazing player but I’m just grateful (to win).”

Dimitrov overcame fervent home support in the night session to grind out the first set on a tie-break against the big-serving Frenchman Mpetshi Perricard.

Bolstered by his lead, the Bulgarian swiftly secured the first break of the match in the opening game of the second set and never looked back as he glided through to the round of 32.

There he will meet either former Russian world number one Daniil Medvedev or Spain’s Jaume Munar, who play on Tuesday.

Russian 12th seed Andrey Rublev earlier raced to a 6-1, 6-4 win over Britain’s Jacob Fearnley.

Rublev cruised through the opening set before pouncing on Fearnley’s serve at 4-5 to book his spot in the second round.

“Jacob didn’t feel the serve in the first set, which helped me a bit,” Rublev said. “He played well in the second and I’m happy to have won.” Earlier, the event opened with a pair of hardfought wins for French wildcards. Arthur Cazaux christened the new 17,500-capacity centre court with a 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) triumph over Italy’s Luciano Darderi.

Shanghai Masters runner-up Arthur Rinderknech then further delighted the local fans with a win by the exact same score against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan.

Rising Italian hope Flavio Cobolli kickstarted play on court one with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Czech Tomas Machac and Kazakh 13th seed Alexander Bublik defeated Australia’s Alexei Popyrin 6-4, 6-3.

Tenth seed Karen Khachanov will complete the day’s play against American qualifier Ethan Quinn.

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