In a reverse of a situation at the French Open just a month ago, when Ukrainian player, Elina Svitolina was booed off the court for not shaking hands with a Belarusian player, this time at Wimbledon 2023, it was Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka who was at the receiving end of the crowd for not extending the customary courtesy to Svitolina after a grueling loss from being one set up in the fourth-round match on Sunday.
Why would the Wimbledon crowd boo Victoria Azarenka? It makes no sense. It was Svitolina who has unilaterally decided not to shake hands with certain players. I feel sorry for @vika7 ! pic.twitter.com/zPWWqkwOiM
— दिविर जैन (@divirj04) July 9, 2023
Post the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Elina Svitolina has refused to participate in sporting courtesies with players from Russia and its ally Belarus. Ahead of Wimbledon, Svitolina reiterated her stance that she will continue not to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players.
Azarenka was fully aware of this and hence did not meet her at the net. It was evident that some part of the crowd was not aware of the stance taken by Svitolina.
Azarenka voiced her displeasure in her post-match press conference, over the crowd’s reaction- “There is nothing to say. She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited.” The incident overshadowed the enthralling contest between the two players.
Who is to blame for no handshake at Wimbledon?
Wimbledon officials were quite aware that such a scenario of forgoing the tradition of shaking hands would come up sooner or later. Some believed that they could have come up with some solution, like a mandatory handshake rule for all players, irrespective of their nationalities, and imposed a fine on those who violated it. It was only this year that they allowed players from Russia and Belarus to compete at Wimbledon.
Contrary to this view, Elina Svitolina said that the tennis associations should get involved to impose a no-handshake rule, somewhat echoing the political sentiments of her country. “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,” she had said.
However, this statement from Elina Svitolina hasn’t gone well with Russian State official and Deputy Duma, Svetlana Zhurova, who has also been a former speed skating Olympic champion. She has slammed Elina Svitolina for passing the buck to governing bodies.
In a statement to Russian media, while making a direct reference to Svitolina, she said, “Ukrainian tennis players are shifting responsibility from themselves to international federations. They have been saying and demanding this for a long time, fearing persecution in their own country. Svitolina is insured in this way.” (via Daily Express).
Zhurova believes that Ukrainian athletes are acting to protect themselves from retaliation. The WTA formally stated that it would not condemn Ukrainian sportsmen for forgoing the custom of shaking hands. They explained that this was the case since they made the decision to turn down the gesture on a personal level.
