Elina Svitolina demands WTA and ITF make ‘no-handshake policy’ official following drama with Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon
Elina Svitolina talked about why she chose not to shake hands with Victoria Azarenka, thereby also demanding the WTA legalize this policy in the future.
Follow Us
Elina Svitolina after winning the match. (credits: The Independent)
In a post-match conference, Elina Svitolina talked about why she chose not to shake hands with Azarenka at the end of the game. That’s not all; the tennis professional further demanded that the WTA make the ‘no handshake‘ policy legal in the coming days. For the uninitiated, Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina was up against World No. 19 Victoria Azarenka in the round of 16 matchups of the ongoing Wimbledon Championships.
The match was one of the best in this year’s competition, lasting about 3 hours with neither player giving up. Victoria won the first set, followed by Svitolina winning the second set, and the last set went to a tiebreak. After which, the Ukrainian pulled off a belter of a serve to bag the match, knocking the Former World No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam title winner out of the tournament.
Azarenka was booed by the crowd throughout the match, and when asked about this incident, Svitolina answered, “Well, I got the same. I got the same in Paris. I played three matches in Paris in this way. Today, as well. For me personally, I think the tennis organizations, they have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian players.”
How is this Russia’s Ukrainian invasion affecting tennis?
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, many sports agencies and authorities took the decision to ban Russian and Belarussian sportspersons from participating in several sports. As expected, Tennis agencies also followed suit and banned the participation of Russian and Belarussian players at Wimbledon 2022. With this decision, elite Players like Aryna Sabalenka and Daniil Medvedev were stripped of their chances of participating at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
Now, after all the hardships they faced in the last year, these players are still receiving a lot of hate and booing from fans on social media. Sabalenka was booed in her second-round match against the French youngster Varvara Gracheva, where she fell a set down due to the constant disruption. However, she somehow managed to bounce back, eventually winning the match. Now that Azarenka faced the same issue yesterday that cost her the match, this Russian-Ukrainian issue is having a bad effect on the purity of the sport as well.
In case you missed it:
- Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian jokes about investing in another ‘billion-dollar’ business after a recent outing with family
- Rafael Nadal calls for calm after shock defeat to Cameron Norrie at United Cup
Stay Updated!
Soumyadeep Mondal
(882 Articles Published)