Sabalenka Supportive Of WTA's Statement On Snubbed Handshakes At Wimbledon

Wednesday, 12 July 2023 at 23:30

byAlex Waite

Aryna Sabalenka has supported the WTA's recent statement on handshakes between players from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.

Tensions between some WTA players from the three nations have been visible on court since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with several Ukrainian players refusing to shake hands of opponents from Russia or Belarus.

At Wimbledon this season, the hostilities spread to the crowd, who booed Victoria Azarenka when she left the court, even though she respected Elina Svitolina's pre-match decision not to shake hands.

The ongoing issue of handshakes forced a reaction from the WTA, who released an official statement on Twitter, saying it respects the Ukrainian player's decision not to shake hands. As a Belarusian player, Sabalenka has experienced handshake snubs in the past, and she backed the statement and said it provided necessary clarity moving forward.

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"I mean, players understand everything. I saw tweet yesterday. They made this statement which is really good. I think people also need to know what's going on and why there is no handshake between Ukrainians, Russian, and Belarusian players."

"I mean, it's good to have this statement. I really hope that nobody else will face this reaction from the crowd.

In its official statement, the WTA recognised that skipping the customary handshake had been an ongoing issue but that clarity was needed following the recent reactions from the crowd. In addition, to the Azarenka incident at Wimbledon, Svitolina was also booed at Roland Garros for refusing to shake Sabalenka's hand during the quarter-final.

"Due to the ongoing reprehensible war, the WTA respects the position of the Ukrainian athletes in foregoing the tradition of shaking opponents’ hands (from Russia and Belarus) at the end of a match, as this is a personal decision. We have some of the best fans in the world and are grateful for their passion and dedication, and we thank them for their understanding and respect for the athletes."

- The WTA statement said