'Knowledgeable Audience': Wimbledon Not Planning To Address Azarenka Booing Incident

| by Balasz Virag

AELTC Chief Executive Sally Bolton addressed the booing incident that occurred recently at Wimbledon confirming that the event won't formally address it.

Elina Svitolina announced in an interview with BBC Sport that she won't shake hands with Victoria Azarenka after their Wimbledon clash. The match went ahead and we really didn't see a handshake between the players though Azarenka gave a nod of approval to Svitolina at the end of the match.

That wasn't good enough for the crowd who booed Azarenka while leaving the court, something she found underserved. Svitolina agreed with that as she expressed before the match the hope that the crowd would have a different reaction to the one the French crowd did.

She also urged the governing bodies to issue statements so fans know why it happens because it's unfair to boo the players as they are walking off the court, especially after battling for a long time and giving the crowd a good show.

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Historically in tennis the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them and I think we don't really want to start mandating what happens. I think we have an incredibly knowledgeable audience at Wimbledon and I think in most part they would understand what was happening.

AELTC Executive Sally Bolton on the situation

Having witnessed one of the most incredible matches on Number One Court, to an absolutely rapt audience, we should be focusing on the tennis and the match that we saw, not all the other stuff that went on.

It's pretty clear that the event won't issue any recommendations which is a shame because players could have used that assurance. Bolton was also asked about a Russian or Belarusian winning the trophy and she commented on that as well.

When we made the decision earlier this year to admit Russians and Belarusians we thought really carefully about all of those things and having made the decision to admit them, we are comfortable about how that plays out.

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