Belarusian Victoria Azarenka booed and gives fist pump to fans after Wimbledon defeat

Belarusian Victoria Azarenka left Court One with a chorus of boos after a fourth-round defeat to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon.

The crowd had set the tone during the match, as they overwhelmingly supported Svitolina throughout the match, and cheered her deafeningly as she secured a 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9) win.

As expected, there was no handshake at the net, although there was a nod of acknowledgment between the two players with Azarenka waving to Svitolina after the Ukrainian’s victory.

But Azarenka then received loud jeers from the Wimbedon crowd as she began to walk off the field, as Svitolina prepared for her televised interview.

The hostile response was enough to bring Azarenka to a halt as she stared at the crowd for a long time before appearing to gesture dismissively at them.

She clenched her fists in apparent disgust at the reaction to her before walking through the tunnel.

Azarenka insisted in her post-match press conference that she had done nothing wrong, blaming “drunken” fans for the jeers and questioning why she should wait for Svitolina if she won’t shake hands.

The 33-year-old said: “I feel like it’s been pretty consistent over the last 18, 19 months. I have done nothing wrong, but sometimes I get different treatment.

‘But what can I say about the crowd? There’s nothing to say. She does not want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited?

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Like, I mean there’s nothing I could have done that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful of her decision.

“But this handshake conversation is not a life-changing conversation. So if you guys want to keep talking about it, bring it up, make it a big deal, headlines, whatever it is, go ahead.

“I thought it was a great tennis match. If people only start focusing on handshakes or mob, pretty drunk mob, final jeers then that’s too bad. That’s probably it in the end.’

Svitolina said at her own press conference that she thought tennis authorities should release a statement confirming that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian players because “some people don’t know what is happening.”

After saying she “couldn’t answer” or being surprised at the hostile response, she added, “I feel like any player who loses and there’s no handshake gets booed.

“I think the tennis organizations should come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian/Belarusian and Ukrainian players.

“I don’t know if it might be unclear to people. I have said several times that until the Russian troops leave Ukraine and we take back our territories, we will not shake hands.

“I have a clear statement. I don’t know how clearer I can be.’

A handshake was not expected as Svitolina has not been shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian athletes lately due to the invasion of her country.

It was Svitolina who was booed at the French Open when she refused to shake hands with Belarusian No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

Svitolina was stunned by the reaction and accused her opponent of adding fuel to the fire by putting her hand to the net.

On the other hand, Russian player Daria Kasatkina – who has taken a strong anti-Putin stance – simply gave a thumbs up that Svitolina admitted to respect.

During the French Open, Svitolina explained that she will not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents out of respect for Ukrainians fighting to defend their country.

“It started with the Ukrainian government going to meetings with the Russian government,” Svitolina said last month.

“They (Ukraine) were against shaking hands because of course they don’t share the same values, and what the Russians are doing to our country.

“We are Ukrainians, all united for one goal: to win this war. We’ll do whatever it takes.’

Svitolina did not return to the tour until April after the birth of her daughter in October.

After her victory over Azarenka, she said: ‘After the birth of our daughter, this is the second fantastic moment in my life.

“It was a very tough match. When I was 0-2 down in the second set, I heard you cheering and I almost cried. I was really struggling and I really wanted to win today. You have given me so much strength today.’

Svitolina also drew strength from thinking about the plight of her stricken homeland, saying, “I thought at home that there are many people looking at me and cheering me on, I know how much it means to them.”

‘All the moments they can share of happiness. I thought there are difficult times in Ukraine and I am here playing for you. I can’t complain, I just have to fight. And here I am, I won the game.’

Svitolina will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the next round, with a place in the semi-finals at stake.

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