“Absolute nasty behavior by a hater and sore loser”: Fans reprimand Elina Svitolina for demanding French Open to fine Aryna Sabalenka like they did Naomi Osaka

Though Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka are both out of the French Open, controversies involving the two continue to go on. Aryna Sabalenka had opted out of going to the press conference to preserve her mental health, following in the footsteps of Naomi Osaka. Naomi Osaka had opted out of press conferences at the French Open 2021 right from the beginning of the tournament, citing mental health reasons. Naomi Osaka was fined heavily by the French Open for missing each press conference. 

Aryna Sabalenka, on the other hand, went to press conferences until round 4 but decided to opt out of them as she was continuously bombarded with questions on the raging war in Ukraine between Russia and Belarus. Sabalenka, however, quoted ‘safety concerns’ as her reason. 

After losing the quarter-final against Sabalenka, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina spoke about this to the media. She felt that Aryna Sabalenka missing the press conferences at French Open should attract the same fines as did Naomi Osaka 2 years back. She said “I think the rules should be the same for everyone. Why was Naomi fined for missing PC & this time there’s no fine? If there was no fine for Osaka, maybe it would be different. It should be the same for every situation”

Now, Elina Svitolina refusing the handshake at the end of the match with Aryna Sabalenka was news enough. After winning the match, Sabalenka waited for Elina at the net, leaning on her, hoping for a handshake. But the Ukrainian didn’t acknowledge her presence and walked off the court. But the hostility between the two players went a step further when Svitolina demanded that Sabalenka be punished for her opt-out. 

Keep Exploring: Karolina Muchova saves match points in an incredible comeback to dump Aryna Sabalenka out of the French Open to reach maiden Major final

Fans expressed their discontent with Elina Svitolina’s demands to French Open

As expected, tennis fans and even Ukraine supporters were not amused by Elina’s demands. They felt this was Elina Svitolina making matters very personal and being vengeful against an individual. Some felt that Elina should be putting an end to this blame and shame game that is going on. A lot of people called Elina a sore loser. They felt Svitolina was actually just hateful toward Sabalenka. Some fans called this behavior from Svitolina absolutely nasty and called her a sore loser

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

A group of them also said even Svitolina should comply with the rules. If a rule to charge fines for not attending press conferences exists, a rule to shake hands with your opponent also exists. A lot of them believe that Svitolina should end this hatred and start shaking hands with players. As these individuals are not directly involved in the war.

Unsurprisingly there were a few that also supported Svitolina’s demands. And there were many supporters who poured out words for Sabalenka.

Aryna Sabalenka crashed out of the French Open in an intense battle against Czech Karolina Muchova.

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