The unwritten rules of tennis and why postmatch handshakes sometimes go awry at the US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — There’s been a lot of talk about the unwritten rules of tennis during Week 1 of this U.S. Open, whether it's the necessity of a “ sorry, not sorry ” raised hand after a let cord or the proper way to warm up with an opponent or the legitimacy of an underarm serve.

Another part of the game drawing attention — thanks to players' complaints about each of the above — is the postmatch greeting at the net, which usually involves shaking hands and, sometimes, a hug or kisses on the cheek. It would seem to be a simple act of sportsmanship, but every so often ends up going awry.

Not every contest in every sport displays that sort of civility, but it is an entrenched ritual in tennis, from kids starting out to the pros, even if the word “handshake” never appears in the 61-page Grand Slam rule book.

“You do it in the juniors. You do it your whole life. It’s part of the fabric of our sport,” said Brad Gilbert, a former player and coach who is part of ESPN's cast in New York.

“You’ve got to win with class,” he said, “and lose with dignity.”

Chris Evert, who won 18 majors in the 1970s and '80s, said: “I never had a bad moment at the net with anyone.”

That's hardly the case for everyone — as a few episodes at the U.S. Open showed.

Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion from Latvia, got into a dustup with Taylor Townsend, the No. 1-ranked doubles player from the U.S., after clasping hands following Townsend's victory.

Instead of going their separate ways, the athletes exchanged words, with Ostapenko pointing a finger at Townsend, who is Black, and saying she has "no education” — something Ostapenko apologized for Saturday via social media, explaining she meant to accuse Townsend of poor tennis etiquette. Ostapenko was upset that Townsend didn't apologize after a ball hit the net tape and went over (that's not actually a rule) and started their warmup with volleys instead of groundstrokes (not a rule, either).

“It was," Venus Williams said, ”a lot of drama."

On Thursday, another net encounter went badly when the loser, two-time Slam finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas, let the winner, Daniel Altmaier, know he hadn't appreciated an underarm serve — which is allowed.

Rather than engage, Altmaier turned his back on Tsitsipas.

Then, on Saturday, two players — Jaume Munar and Zizou Bergs — got into a postmatch set-to over grunting.

“In the heat of the moment, you can stay stuff which you (wouldn't) normally ... say (and) you regret afterward,” Altmaier said, adding that he's not a fan of “discussions at the net.”

Neither is 20th-seeded Jiri Lehecka, who thinks conflicts are better resolved “in the locker room, behind closed doors,” instead of in front of a crowd and TV audience.

Tense moments at the net are not merely a U.S. Open phenomenon, and there's a segment of tennis social media that chronicles every half-hearted handshake.

“Some people don’t really have a lot of things to do throughout the day, so they pay a lot of attention to this,” said 21st-seeded Linda Noskova.

So folks noticed when Ben Shelton and Flavio Cobolli had a back-and-forth after a match in Canada this month. Or when Danielle Collins gave Iga Swiatek an earful about being “insincere” at the Paris Olympics. Or when Taylor Fritz sarcastically told a Wimbledon opponent to “ have a nice flight home ” after beating him in 2024.

“Maybe if I didn’t like someone really, really hard, then probably — maybe — I wouldn’t want to shake hands with them,” said Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, “but besides that ... it’s good to congratulate someone if you lost."

Andrea Petkovic, a 2014 French Open semifinalist who retired three years ago, enjoyed getting glimpses of the “persona of the player.”

She chuckled while recounting a loss to Serena Williams in Rome: “At the end, she said to me, ‘Nice try.’”

No one wants to see this tradition go away, although two-time major semifinalist Maria Sakkari knows there are “going to be incidents where people don’t like each other.”

“We are ... from different countries, different cultures,” Sakkari said. “It’s normal that two people are going to fall out.”

And not only after a match.

Gilbert nearly came to blows during what he called “a big tiff” with David Wheaton at the 1990 Grand Slam Cup, before an official separated them. Wheaton was upset about an overrule; things escalated from there.

“Got pretty heated,” Gilbert said, “but afterward, we still shook hands.”

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, hugs Polina Kudermetova, of Russia, after their second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Arthur Rinderknech, of France, right, shakes hands with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, of Spain, after winning their second-round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Nuno Borges, left, of Portugal, congratulates Tommy Paul, of the United States, after being defeated by him during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Coco Gauff, of the United States, right, and Ajla Tomljanovic, of Australia, left, embrace across the net after Gauff won their match during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Daniel Altmaier, left, of Germany, is congratulated by Stefanos Tsitsipas, of Greece, after defeating him during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

President Donald Trump posted Wednesday on social media that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote.

On Iran, Trump's threat to impose a 25% tax on imports from countries doing business with the Islamic Republic could raise prices for U.S. consumers and further inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.

And as Senate Republicans face intense pressure from Trump to vote down a war powers resolution Wednesday aimed at limiting him from carrying out more military action against Venezuela, an AP-NORC poll conducted after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s Jan. 3 capture found that 56% of U.S. adults think Trump has overstepped on military interventions abroad, while majorities disapprove of how he's handling foreign policy.

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The Washington Post says FBI agents have searched a reporter’s home as part of an investigation into a government contractor accused of sharing government secrets.

The Post says journalist Hannah Natanson had her phone and a Garmin watch seized by agents at her Virginia home.

An FBI affidavit says the search was related to an investigation into a system administrator in Maryland who, authorities allege, took classified reports home.

An FBI spokesperson declined to comment. Justice Department officials haven’t responded to an Associated Press request for comment.

Natanson covers the Trump administration’s transformation of the federal government and recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading a colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has made an American takeover of Greenland a focus of his second term in the White House, calling it a national security priority while repeating false claims about the strategic Arctic island.

In recent comments, he has floated using military force as an option to take control of Greenland. He has said that if the U.S. does not acquire the island, which is a self-governing territory of NATO ally Denmark, then it will fall into Chinese or Russian hands.

▶ Take a closer look at the facts

China’s trade surplus surged to a record of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, the government said Wednesday, as exports to other countries made up for slowing shipments to the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s onslaught of higher tariffs.

China’s exports rose 5.5% for the whole of last year to $3.77 trillion, customs data showed, as Chinese automakers and other manufacturers expanded into markets across the globe. Imports flatlined at $2.58 trillion. The 2024 trade surplus was over $992 billion.

In December, China’s exports climbed 6.6% from the year before in dollar terms, better than economists’ estimates and higher than November’s 5.9% year-on-year increase. Imports in December were up 5.7% year-on-year, compared to November’s 1.9%.

▶ Read more about how economists expect exports to impact China’s economy

Although he doesn’t always follow through, Trump seems intent on doubling and tripling down whenever possible.

“Right now I’m feeling pretty good,” Trump said Tuesday in Detroit. His speech was ostensibly arranged to refocus attention on the economy, which the president claimed is surging despite lingering concerns about higher prices.

Trump has repeatedly insisted he’s only doing what voters elected him to do, and his allies in Washington remain overwhelmingly united behind him.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels predicted that voters will reward the party this year.

“Voters elected President Trump to put American lives first — and that’s exactly what he’s doing,” she said. “President Trump is making our country safer, and the American people will remember it in November.”

It’s only two weeks into the new year, and Trump has already claimed control of Venezuela, escalated threats to seize Greenland and flooded American streets with masked immigration agents. That’s not even counting an unprecedented criminal investigation at the Federal Reserve, a cornerstone of the national economy that Trump wants to bend to his will.

Even for a president who thrives on chaos, Trump is generating a stunning level of turmoil as voters prepare to deliver their verdict on his leadership in midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.

Each decision carries tremendous risks, from the possibility of an overseas quagmire to undermining the country’s financial system, but Trump has barreled forward with a ferocity rattling even some of his Republican allies.

“The presidency has gone rogue,” said historian Joanne B. Freeman, a Yale University professor.

▶ Read more about the turmoil Trump is creating ahead of this year’s votes

Nearly half of Americans — 45% — want the U.S. to take a “less active” role in solving the world’s problems, the new AP-NORC poll found.

About one-third say its current role is “about right,” and only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they want the country to be more involved globally.

Democrats and independents are driving the desire for the U.S. to take a “less active” role. At least half of them now want the U.S. to do less, a sharp shift from a few months ago.

Republicans, meanwhile, have grown more likely to indicate that Trump’s level of involvement is right. About 6 in 10 Republicans — 64% — say the country’s current role in world affairs is “about right,” which is up slightly from 55% from September.

About half of Americans believe the U.S. intervening in Venezuela will be “mostly a good thing” for halting the flow of illegal drugs into the country, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

And 44% believe the U.S. actions will do more to benefit than harm the Venezuelan people. But U.S. adults are divided on whether intervention will be good or bad for U.S. economic and national security interests, or if it simply won’t have an impact.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to see benefits to the U.S. action, particularly its effects on drug trafficking. About 8 in 10 Republicans say America’s intervention will be “mostly a good thing” for stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the country.

▶ Read more about the poll’s findings

Most U.S. adults — 56% — say President Trump has “gone too far” in using the U.S. military to intervene in other countries, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted from Jan. 8-11, after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture.

Democrats and independents are driving the belief that Trump has overstepped. About 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents say Trump has “gone too far” on military intervention, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans.

The vast majority of Republicans — 71% — say Trump’s actions have been “about right,” and only about 1 in 10 want to see him go further.

▶ Read more about the poll’s findings

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington, as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio listen. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Trump said in a social media post on Monday that he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the United States from countries that do business with Iran. The sanctions could hurt the Islamic Republic by reducing its access to foreign goods and driving up prices, which would likely inflame tensions in a country where inflation is running above 40%.

But the tariffs could create blowback for the United States, too, potentially raising the prices Americans pay for imports from Iranian trade partners such as Turkish textiles and Indian gemstones and threatening an uneasy trade truce Trump reached last year with China.

The Trump administration has offered scant details since announcing the new tariffs targeting Iran. It’s also unclear what legal authority the president is relying on to impose the import taxes. He invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to justify his most sweeping tariffs last year. But businesses and several states have gone to court arguing that Trump overstepped his authority in doing so.

▶ Read more about Trump’s threat of new tariffs

The Smithsonian Institution gave the White House new documents on its planned exhibits Tuesday in response to a demand to share precise details of what its museums and other programs are doing for America’s 250th birthday.

For months, Trump has been pressing the Smithsonian to back off “divisive narratives” and tell an upbeat story on the country’s history and culture, with the threat of holding back federal money if it doesn’t.

By Tuesday, the Smithsonian was supposed to provide lists of all displays, objects, wall text and other material dedicated to this year’s anniversary and other purposes. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III told staff, in an email obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, that “we transmitted more information in response to that request.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment, leaving it unclear whether it was satisfied with the material it received.

▶ Read more about the Smithsonian

Trump said Wednesday that anything less than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable,” hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.

In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would.

“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”

Greenland is at the center of a geopolitical storm as Trump is insisting he wants to own the island, and the residents of its capital, Nuuk, say it is not for sale. The White House has not ruled out taking the Arctic island by force.

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments

President Donald Trump walks down the stairs of Air Force One upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)