Wimbledon Crowd Boos Belarus' Victoria Azarenka After Ukrainian Elina Svitolina Declines to Shake Hands
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Azarenka says it ‘wasn’t fair’ for the crowd to react poorly after she respected Svitolina’s decision to not shake hands post-game
Alberto Pezzali/AP Photo
Victoria Azarenka, a Belarusian tennis player, was booed as she left the court at Wimbledon on Sunday following her defeat to Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina — the first match between a Ukrainian player and a Russian or Belarusian at this year’s tournament.
Svitolina, who won the intense three-set match with an ace in the final-set tiebreak, refused to shake Azarenka’s hand post-match, something the world No. 76 player has been doing consistently given the ongoing war in her home country. When Svitolina refused a handshake, Azarenka stood at the net and offered a hand gesture as appreciation instead. As she walked off the court, the crowd gave her a boo.
The No. 19 seed told reporters after the game that she respected Svitolina’s decision, and thought it was unfair of the crowd to react in such a way.
“What should I have done? Stayed and waited? I mean, there’s no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision,” Azarenka said. The tennis player added that a lot of spectators probably didn’t understand what was going on and their reaction was simply a result of “a lot of Pimm’s throughout the day.”
Related: Ukrainian Tennis Player Marta Kostyuk Refuses to Shake Hands with Russian Opponent After Winning
Patrick Smith/Getty
“I thought it was a great tennis match. If people are going to be focusing only on handshakes or the crowd — quite a drunk crowd — booing in the end, that’s a shame. That’s probably what it is in the end of the day.”
She continued: “But this conversation about shaking hands is not a life-changing conversation. So if you guys want to keep talking about it, bring it up, make it a big deal, headlines, whatever it is, keep going.”
Svitolina, who made a triumphant return to tennis this year after having a baby, is celebrating both her first ever victory against Azarenka after five previous defeats and the second time she’s made it to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. During her on-court interview, she joked that winning this “extremely tough match” was the second best moment of her life — following her daughter’s birth.
When asked about the crowd’s reaction to her and Azarenka’s post-game interaction, Svitolina explained that she got the same kind of treatment at the French Open last month, where she played three matches the same way. She added: “I already said multiple times that until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and we take back our territories, not going to shake hands. So I have clear statement. I don't know how more clear I can be.”
Svitolina, who made it clear before Wimbledon she disagrees with the decision to allow Russian and Belarusian players to return to the Championships, agreed that many people don’t understand what is happening in her home country. She said tennis organizations could be more helpful in disseminating that information.
“[Tennis organizations] 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 don’t really know what is happening. So I think this is the right way to do it,” the player said.
Svitolina will now face top seed Iga Świątek in the final eight at Wimbledon.
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