'18 Months Too Late': Azarenka On No-Handshake Announcement From WTA

Wednesday, 02 August 2023 at 05:30

Updated at Wednesday, 13 August 2025 at 15:55

byZachary Wimer

Victoria Azarenka battled Elina Svitolina at the 2023 Citi Open, and she was once again asked about the lack of handshake after the match, repeating her earlier comments.

Azarenka and Svitolina had a tremendous battle at Wimbledon last month, and while the match was spectacular, the end was a bit disappointing for both players.

Azarenka was booed while leaving the court as the players didn't shake hands, and it started a very big conversation about whether the WTA should intervene.

Svitolina herself asked the organization to do so, so fans know the reason behind the absent handshake. That could help prevent players from being booed after battling for hours.

Wimbledon declined to do that, while the WTA ultimately released a statement in hopes of those things not happening again.

The organizers in Washington went even further, as they opted to announce before the match that there wouldn't be a handshake. The match went well, and Svitolina won once again, and there wasn't a handshake. Asked about it after the loss, Azarenka confirmed that she didn't care.

"I don't care. I mean, how long are we going to talk about that, really? I mean, it's just, to me, I don't care. We just move on. We play tennis match. As I said in Wimbledon, I accept, respect somebody's position. That's it. No more."

According to Azarenka, the announcement should have come a long time ago because the practice has been in action for a while now. It's a recommendation by the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, which all players from the country have so far followed.

"Well, I think we are about how many, 18 months too late with making this? So, happy? I don't know (smiling)."

Azarenka now looks to Canada and the Canadian Open next week. She hopes to achieve a different result than in her opening match at the WTA 500 tournament in Washington.