Why did Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka not shake hands at Wimbledon?

Elina Svitolina is through to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon after winning a thrilling battle against Victoria Azarenka in the third-set match tiebreak.

Svitolina only returned to tennis earlier this year after giving birth to her first child but the Ukrainian wildcard has matched her best performance at the All England Club by reaching the last-eight.

The 28-year-old fought from a set down to defeat the former world No 1 Azarenka 2-6 6-4 7-6(9) and will now play top seed Iga Swiatek for a place in the semi-finals.

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But Svitolina’s performance and an enthralling contest between the players was overshadowed after the Wimbledon crowd booed Azarenka off the court.

Svitolina and Azarenka did not shake hands at the net after the match and the 33-year-old was loudly jeered when she left Court One.

Why did Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka not shake hands?

As the leading Ukrainian player on the men’s and women’s professional tours, Svitolina does not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents. She has been very clear that she will not do so until Russian troops stop the invasion of her home country.

“I already said multiple times that until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and we take back our territories, [I’m] not going to shake hands. So I have clear statement,” Svitolina said after her win against Azarenka. “I don’t know how more clear I can be.”

Svitolina is not the only Ukrainian player who does not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents after matches. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk also refuses to shake hands with players from both countries. The ‘non-handshakes’ apply even to players such as Daria Kasatkina, the Russian No 1, who has been a vocal critic of her country’s role in the invasion of Ukraine and has supported the Ukrainian players on tour.

“It started with the Ukrainian government that went to the meetings with the Russian government,” Svitolina explained at last month’s French Open after beating Kasatkina.

“They (Ukraine) were against shaking the hands because they’re not sharing the same values, obviously, and what the Russians are doing to our country.

“We are Ukrainians, all united for one goal of winning this war. We do anything that is required.”

Why did the Wimbledon crowd boo Victoria Azarenka?

To any followers of tennis who have kept up to date with the numerous controversies between Ukrainian players facing Russian or Belarusian players over the past year and a half, it was pretty obvious that Svitolina and Azarenka would not shake hands after their match.

However there may have been people in the crowd who didn’t understand the situation, in what was the first match between a Ukrainian player and a Russian or Belarusian at this year’s Championships.

After Svitolina won match point, Azarenka made no attempt to shake her opponent’s hands out of respect for the Ukrainian’s stance. However there was a nod of acknowledgement between the players in recognition of the situation, as well as the quality of the match they had produced.

Yet when Azarenka left the court as Svitolina prepared for her post-match interview, the crowd started to boo. The boos were not just a few isolated fans, either.

Azarenka looked stunned at the booing as she turned on her heels and looked around the stadium. As the booing continued, she slapped her wrists together in disgust.

Afterwards, Azarenka said it was “not fair” that she had been booed by the crowd. The Belarusian said she has a good relationship with Svitolina and respected her decision not to shake hands after the match.

What other controversies have there been between Ukrainian and Russian and Belarusian players?

There was actually a reverse of this situation at the French Open last month, as Svitolina was booed off court after not shaking hands with the top-ranked Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk was also booed by the Paris crowd after a first-round defeat to Sabalenka.

In Paris, it also seemed that some of the fans in the crowd did not understand that Svitolina and Kostyuk had already decided not to shake hands with Sabalenka before the match, and thought the ‘non-handshake’ was instead a moment of bad sportsmanship after the match.

After Azarenka was booed at Wimbledon, Svitolina said a pre-match announcement, explaining that there will be no handshake between Ukrainian and Russian or Belarusian opponents, would help fans understand the situation.

Ukrainian players have been highly critical of the lack of condemnation of the war from Russian and Belarusians on tour.

Why are Russian and Belarusian players back at Wimbledon this year?

With the war in Ukraine now approaching its 500th day since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Russian and Belarusian players have returned to Wimbledon after the All England Club fell back in line with the other three grand slams and the men’s and women’s professional tours.

In March, Wimbledon lifted last year’s ban on players from both countries in what chair Ian Hewitt described as an “incredibly difficult decision”.

Wimbledon’s statement added: “There was a strong and very disappointing reaction from some governing bodies in tennis to the position taken by the All England Club and the LTA last year with consequences which, if continued, would be damaging to the interests of players, fans, the Championships and British tennis.”

In announcing its decision, Wimbledon set out a series of conditions that Russian and Belarusian players will be required to meet in order to compete at the Championships.

The All England Club also announced a support package for Ukrainian players, with Wimbledon covering all of the accommodation costs for Ukrainian players and their teams during the Championships and the rest of the British grass-court season.

One pound will also be donated to Ukraine relief efforts for every ticket sold, which is expected to amount to around £500,000.