Tense match between Azarenka and Svitolina at Wimbledon
At the third Grand Slam tennis tournament of the season, Wimbledon, the fourth-round match between Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was marked by tension between the athletes and public reaction.
Entering the tournament on a “special wild card” with 19th seed and former World No.1 Azarenka, Svitolina squared off to finish in the bottom 8 tennis players.
Azarenka and Svitolina, who won the right to participate in the tournament this year after the ban was lifted at Wimbledon, preferred not to look at each other during the pre-match draw.
While Svitolina did not shake her opponent’s hand after winning 2-1 with sets of 2-6, 6-4 and 7-6, Azarenka walked off the court shaking her head amid boos.
Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina.
“A SHAME OF THE SITUATION”
Azarenka, 33, said she “respected” Svitolina’s refusal to shake hands, adding: “I didn’t do anything wrong, but I keep getting treated differently. It’s shameful if people are just going to focus on shaking hands. or boo a drunken crowd”. she used the phrases.
The Belarusian tennis player argued that the public also drank too much during the day.
Svitolina also did not shake hands with another Belarusian athlete, Aryna Sabalenka, at the French Open. (AA)