Close friends Belinda Bencic and Donna Vekic had a bit of fun on the tennis courts, playfully demonstrating the fundamental difference between men’s and women’s handshakes in tennis.
Handshakes in tennis aren’t generally a major talking point, but they are certainly a significant part of the sport. It’s one of those unwritten rules that sometimes gets broken.
Typically, players shake hands at the end of matches, regardless of the outcome, but occasionally it doesn’t happen. The handshake can offer a glimpse into how players view one another.
Some handshakes can be quite tense, especially on the women’s side, as those are often considered somewhat colder. On the men’s side, however, there are occasionally warmer exchanges.
On the women’s side, handshakes tend to be more professional, and Bencic and Vekic humorously illustrated this difference in a short clip. In the men’s version, they portrayed a relatively warm handshake, while on the women’s side, the handshake was notably colder.
Although the clip was meant as a joke, there’s likely some truth to the depiction. However, there are also plenty of warm embraces on the women’s tour as well, especially in recent years, as more players form friendships while competing.
There seems to be a shift among the new generation of players, who appear closer compared to previous generations. In any case, as two players who compete regularly on the WTA Tour, Bencic and Vekic have certainly seen the "colder" version of handshakes up close and did a great job recreating it.
The video was posted on Belinda Bencic’s Instagram profile with the caption: "The Handshake. Men’s Tennis vs. Women’s Tennis."
Instead of handshakes, however, both will likely try to focus on their matches and results, as a cold handshake from an opponent after a win certainly won't bother any of them.