Victoria Azarenka had a really unpleasant experience when leaving the No. 1 Court at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
After losing to Elina Svitolina in three close sets, Azarenka made a very nice gesture. She respected her opponent's decision not to shake hands and didn't even try to create an uncomfortable situation for the Ukrainian.
While her actions were acknowledged and respected by many members of the tennis community, the crowd on the No. 1 Court wasn't so welcoming. When the Belarusian was leaving the court, the fans started booing, even though her gesture was respectful.
Azarenka was really surprised by that, even stopping for a moment and shaking her head in disbelief. She experienced something that happened also to Daria Kasatkina before, and she wasn't happy about it. During the post-match press conference, she spoke about multiple things, but also her relationship with the Ukrainian.
"I know Elina for a very long time. I've always had a good relationship with her. And the circumstances, it is what it is, and that's it."
When asked about the crowd specifically, the Belarusian disclosed that the fact that she was booed wasn't fair, but at the same time, she acknowledged the fact that she can't really control the crowd.
"I can't control the crowd. I'm not sure that a lot of people were understanding what's happening, so... it wasn't fair. It is what it is. What can I do? But what can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say."
Talking about the situation in detail, Azarenka explained what could be seen also by people watching from the stands but also in television. She showed respect to her opponent, and the Ukrainian did the same. Yet, some fans probably didn't see it.
"She doesn't want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited? Like, I mean, there's no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision."
The former World No. 1 on the WTA Tour was also asked about her opponent's performance. Svitolina is currently stunning everyone with her success after becoming a mother, and according to Azarenka, it's thanks to being able to play freely.
"I think she plays much more freely with, like, no pressure right now. Will it change later? You never know. I think it might. To play, like, free and obviously a lot of people supporting her, I don't know if it's advantage for her, but I would think that's part of it."
0 Comments