10-7-2023 (LONDON) Wimbledon organizers have confirmed that they have no plans to issue a statement after Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka was booed off the court by some sections of the crowd following her defeat by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina. Svitolina won the gripping three-set match on Court One late on Sunday, setting up a quarter-final clash with world No 1 Iga Swiatek.
As a political statement, Svitolina did not shake hands with Azarenka in protest over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus being a key military ally of Moscow. Azarenka held her hand up in the direction of Svitolina as a sign of respect, but left the court to a chorus of boos from some sections of the crowd.
Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion, expressed her disappointment with her treatment, stating that it was “not fair” and that the match was great, but people were focusing only on handshakes and the booing crowd.
Svitolina and her fellow Ukraine players refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian rivals at the recent French Open and called on the sport’s governing bodies to explain the position of Ukraine players.
However, All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said on Monday that Wimbledon had no plans to issue such a statement, stating that historically, the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them. She added that Wimbledon has an incredibly knowledgeable audience and that the focus should be on the tennis and the match that was seen, not all the other stuff that went on.
There could be five players in the quarter-finals representing Russia or Belarus, a year after athletes from the two nations were banned by the All England Club. Bolton was asked how tournament organizers would feel about handing the trophy to a player from one of the two nations, to which she responded that they are comfortable with their decision to admit them and have thought carefully about all the implications.
