Elina Svitolina confirmed the WTA will inform the crowd before her clash with Victoria Azarenka that no post-match handshakes will take place.
The two tennis stars will face off at the Washington Open on Monday night, the first time they’ve gone head to head since their controversial match at Wimbledon.
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BBC
BBC
They faced each other in the fourth round at SW19 last month with headlines being made off the court as Svitolina refused to shake Azarenka’s hand.
Azarenka, who hails from Belarus, knew Ukrainian star Svitolina would not do so beforehand and therefore headed straight to pack her bag in order to avoid an awkward snub. However, this led to intense boos as she gestured handcuffs to the fans in attendance.
This was due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, with Belarus being an economic and political partner to Russia.
After demanding that the authorities released a statement on the matter, Svitolina says she has spoken to WTA chief Steve Simon in order to ensure the same confusion doesn’t happen again in Washington.
She explained: “After our match at Wimbledon, the WTA, as you know, I said that there will be no handshake between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players.
“Just yesterday I spoke with Steve Simon and he told me that they would announce before our match that there would be no handshake, so I am happy with that.”
The hope is that the clear communication with fans in Washington will avoid the unjust abuse Azarenka suffered, with the player telling talkSPORT host Simon Jordan she was ‘incredibly upset’ after their Wimbledon clash.
“I think she feels let down by Wimbledon because I think Wimbledon [bosses] should have advised fans that at the request of the Ukrainian players, they didn’t want to shake the hands of Russian and Belarusian players.”
Source: TalkSport.com Tennis
