Wimbledon Player Faces Backlash for Skipping Handshake with Opponent

Victoria Azarenka’s Wimbledon journey came to an end on Sunday when she lost a closely contested match against Elina Svitolina. However, it was what happened after the match that caused a major stir.

Instead of shaking hands with Svitolina, Azarenka walked off the court, ignoring the customary gesture. This created a buzz as Svitolina has previously chosen not to shake hands with players from Belarus and Russia.

The crowd at Wimbledon didn’t take kindly to Azarenka’s action and booed her for not following the usual sportsmanship protocol.

When asked about the crowd’s reaction, Azarenka expressed her frustration, suggesting that perhaps not everyone understood the situation and implying that some may have been under the influence of alcohol.

She said, “I can’t control the crowd. I’m not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening. It wasn’t fair. It is what it is. What can I do?”

Azarenka acknowledged the unfairness of the situation but accepted it, stating, “[What] can I say about the crowd? There is nothing to say. [Svitolina] 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.”

It is worth noting that Azarenka and Svitolina had a good relationship prior to this incident. Azarenka, who moved to the United States as a teenager, added a layer of complexity to the situation.

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