Elina Svitolina spoke about the incident that happened at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, as Victoria Azarenka was booed off the court.
Svitolina, like other Ukrainian players, has chosen to stop shaking hands with players from Russia and Belarus during the ongoing War in Ukraine. That happened also in the match against Azarenka, but it didn't end nicely.
When the Belarusian was leaving the court after a sensational match, she was booed by the spectators on the No. 1 Court in the All England Club, and for obvious reasons, she wasn't happy about it.
Azarenka also spoke about it afterward, saying that she did what she thought was respectful, as she knew her opponent wouldn't want to shake hands, and she wanted to respect that stance.
In her post-match conference, Svitolina addressed these reactions and urged the ATP and the WTA to issue a statement regarding this stance.
"Well, I got the same. I got the same in Paris. I played three matches in Paris in this way. Today, as well. For me personally, I think the tennis organizations, they have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian players."
"I don't know if it's maybe not clear for people. Some people not really know what is happening. So I think this is the right way to do."
Svitolina went on to recall her experience in Paris, pointing out the inconsistency of crowd reactions depending on the match outcome. The Ukrainian feels that often, the booing isn't even directed at a certain player but at the player on the losing side of the match, which was without a handshake.
"Well, it was like this in Paris. It also was unfair for me in Paris quarterfinal. Well, as I mentioned, each player that loses, and there is no handshake, it's getting booed I feel like. So I don't know."
"If today would be a different reaction if I would lose, I don't know. I cannot really answer this question. In Paris it was like this. I had unbelievable support for other matches. But in quarterfinal, I got booed off the court."
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