Wimbledon crowd boo Belarusian tennis star off the court after loss to Ukrainian
Azarenka gives dismissive gesture with her fists to booing crowds after her loss
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Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka was booed by crowds at Wimbledon yesterday, after her defeat against Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina.
Azarenka suffered a fourth-round defeat to Svitolina, who managed to clinch a 2-6- 6-4 7-6 (9) victory against the Belarusian.
The pair of players did not shake hands at the net, however there was a nod of acknowledgement between the two.
The crowd at Court One were overwhelming behind Svitolina during the contest, whereas Azarenka received boos as she left the court after her loss.
Azarenka booed by crowds after her defeat to Svitolina
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Azarenka then made a dismissive gesture with her fists to the fans as she left Court One.
In her post-match press conference, the Belarusian insisted that she had done nothing wrong and labeled the fans who booed her as “drunk”.
She said: “I feel like it's been pretty consistent for the last 18, 19 months. I haven't done anything wrong, but keep getting different treatment sometimes.
“I thought it was a great tennis match. If people are going to be focusing only on handshakes or crowd, quite drunk crowd, booing in the end, that's a shame. That's probably what it is in the end of the day.”
The 33-year-old said she did not shake Svitolina’s hand after the match because she believed that Svitolina did not want to.
“She doesn't want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision. What should I have done? Stayed and waited?
“Like, I mean, there's no thing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful towards her decision.”
Svitolina said in her own press conference that she thinks the tennis authorities should release a statement explaining that there will be no handshakes between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian players.
Svitolina was victorious against the Belarusian player
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She said: “I don't know if it's maybe unclear for people. I already said multiple times that until Russian troops are out of Ukraine and we take back our territories, not going to shake hands.”
Svitolina was booed at the French Open last month when she refused to shake the hand of Belarusian world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
The Ukrainian was confused as to why Sabalenka offered her hand at the net, which she believed added fuel to the fire.
However Svitolina respected the thumbs up given to her by Russian player Daria Kasatkina, who holds a strong anti-Putin stance.
During the French Open, Svitolina had explained she would not be shaking the hands of any Russian or Belarusian players, out of respect for Ukranians fighting in the war.
She said: “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.”
Svitolina will next face World No 1 Iga Switak, competing for a place in the semi finals.