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The Wimbledon crowd booed Belarusian Victoria Azarenka as she left the court after losing a nail-biting match to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, saying “It wasn’t fair.”
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Svitolina has avoided shaking hands with Russians or Belarusians after matches. Though she has often stated her viewpoint, Azarenka was the target of jeers as she departed Court One because she did not meet her at the net.
What ought I to have done? remained and awaited?” Reporters were questioned by Azarenka. She refuses to shake hands with folks from Russia or Belarus. I appreciated her choice.
Svitolina, a wildcard, won a fantastic match 2-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9) in front of a boisterous Wimbledon crowd, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Svitolina, who had her daughter Skai in October and had only recently returned to playing, said, “I feel like each player that loses, and there is no handshake, is getting booed.”
“I believe that a statement stating that there would be no handshake between Russian/Belarusian and Ukrainian players needs to be released by the tennis organizations. I’m not sure if it’s unclear for some folks.
I’ve previously made it clear numerous times that I won’t shake hands with anyone until Russian troops have left Ukraine and we have reclaimed our territories.
My position is crystal obvious. I’m not sure how much clearer I can get.”
The response to Azarenka marked an extraordinary conclusion to a compelling match, and the former world number one hoped that people would instead pay attention to the caliber of the duo’s tennis.
“I thought the pairing was excellent. It’s unfortunate if attention will just be focused on handshakes or a loud, inebriated crowd booing at the conclusion, she continued. A tennis match took place. Nobody’s life is changing here. Tennis is being played. We’re performing our duties. There you go.”
Source- BBC Sports
