WIMBLEDON, England — Wimbledon is staying out of the politics of handshakes.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine had urged tennis authorities to publicize that Ukrainians received’t be shaking arms with Russian and Belarusian gamers after matches – in order that followers don’t boo as a result of they assume some gamers are being snubbed.
“We’ve no intention of doing that,” Wimbledon chief govt Sally Bolton mentioned Monday.
Fans on No. 1 Court booed Belarusian participant Victoria Azarenka after she didn’t go to the online to shake arms with Svitolina after the Ukrainian participant’s victory on Sunday.
Azarenka knew that Svitolina doesn’t shake arms with Russians and Belarusians – in protest of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and as a substitute waved to her. She later mentioned she was attempting to be “respectful towards her decision.”
Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus echoed Svitolina‘s name for an announcement “so players will not leave court with so much hate. … It would be good for the crowd to actually know what’s going on. There is a reason behind no handshake.”
Bolton, nevertheless, mentioned there received’t be any instruction to Wimbledon umpires to make bulletins about handshakes.
“Historically in tennis the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them and I think we don’t really want to start mandating what happens,” Bolton mentioned. “We have an incredibly knowledgeable audience at Wimbledon and I think in the most part they would understand what was going on. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what everybody in the crowd was thinking last night.”
At the French Open, it was the opposite method round for Ukrainian gamers. Marta Kostyuk was booed when she didn’t shake arms with Sabalenka. Svitolina mentioned she was additionally booed in Paris.
Russian participant Daniil Medvedev, who moved into the quarterfinals on Monday, mentioned Azarenka being booed was a “big misunderstanding.” In a giant crowd, he mentioned, there’s certain to be individuals who don’t know the small print.
“It’s a pity for sure for her that she got booed, and probably for no reason,” the third-seeded Medvedev mentioned. “But I think the people didn’t know the story behind it, and that’s why it happened.”
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