Victoria Azarenka mentioned it “wasn’t fair” that she was booed at Wimbledon after her loss to Ukrainian rival Elina Svitolina on Sunday.
Azarenka, who’s from Belarus, had simply misplaced a third-set tiebreaker and — realizing that Svitolina doesn’t shake fingers with Russian and Belarusian gamers after matches in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — walked on to the umpire to shake fingers.
The two-time Grand Slam champion additionally appeared to offer a slight wave to Svitolina, who gained 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9).
But as she gathered her gear and commenced strolling off No. 1 Court — the place the group had been rooting for Svitolina — boos rained down.
“I can’t control the crowd. I’m not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening,” Azarenka mentioned, suggesting the group had been ingesting.
“But if people are going to be focusing only on handshakes or a quite drunk crowd, booing in the end, that’s a shame.
“It wasn’t fair. It is what it is. What can I do?“
It wasn’t clear if fans thought Azarenka snubbed Svitolina, but the Belarusian shook her head as she walked off and banged her hands or fists together over her head.
At the French Open, it was the other way around for Ukrainian players. Marta Kostyuk was booed when she didn’t shake hands at the net with Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Svitolina said she was also booed in Paris.
“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,” Svitolina mentioned. “I don’t know if it’s maybe not clear for people. Some people not really know what is happening. So I think this is the right way to do.”
The 33-year-old Azarenka, who moved from Belarus to the United States as a young person, mentioned she’s at all times had a superb relationship with Svitolina.
“But what can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say,” Azarenka mentioned. “She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited? Like, 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.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
