The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) appealed to the public amid the incident during the round of 16 match of the Wimbledon tournament between the Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka and the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
It should be noted that at the end of the match, Victoria did not shake hands with her rival, for which she was booed by the local fans. Previously, Ukrainian athletes regularly refused to shake hands with representatives of Belarus and Russia. It is assumed that Azarenka and Svitolina agreed in advance that they would not shake hands.
“Because of the unpleasant circumstances and the misunderstanding that arose in yesterday’s match at Wimbledon. The WTA would like to be clear about post-match handshakes. The WTA respects the position of the Ukrainian athletes to abandon the traditional handshake with rivals from Russia and Belarus, as this is their personal decision. We thank the fans for their passion and devotion, and we also thank them for their understanding and respect for the athletes”, writes the press service of the sports organization.
We add that in the last match of the fourth round of the British tournament, Svitolina defeated Azarenka with a score of 2:6, 6:4, 7:6 (11:9) and reached the quarterfinals, where she will play with the first racket of the world Iga Sventek.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will participate in Wimbledon 2023 in a neutral state.
