Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka has supported Ukrainian Elina Svitolina’s request for a statement from tennis authorities explaining the absence of handshakes between Ukrainian players and their Russian and Belarusian opponents at Wimbledon. The purpose is to protect players from “so much hate.”
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was booed off the court after losing to Svitolina on Sunday.
As is now common, Svitolina did not shake hands with Azarenka in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Belarus is a key military ally of Moscow.
Azarenka, who raised her hand towards Svitolina as a sign of respect, left the court amidst boos from some of the spectators.
The two-time Australian Open champion expressed that her treatment “wasn’t fair.”
“I thought it was a great tennis match,” she said. “If people are only going to focus on handshakes or the crowd, a rather intoxicated crowd, booing in the end, that’s a shame.”
Article from www.aljazeera.com rnrn