Tennis
Ukrainian hard framed Azarenka at Wimbledon. The excuse looks pathetic
Drunk fans booed the Belarusian tennis player without understanding the situation.
Wimbledon 2023 risks becoming the most scandalous in history. On Sunday, drunken fans, not understanding the situation, whistled dissatisfied with ex-first racket of the world Victoria Azarenka from the court after the end of the game with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Oh, how wrong they were!
“She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russians”
The match of the 1/8 finals of the women’s singles at Wimbledon between Belarusian tennis player Victoria Azarenka and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina gave the audience a spectacular confrontation. But almost a three-hour game faded into the background after the disapproving reaction of the audience to the lack of a handshake between the athletes.
After the loss, Azarenka did not approach the net, as is customary among tennis players, but thanked Elina from a distance. The Belarusian athlete only shook hands with the judge. Such a “cold greeting” between the participants of the match is explained by Svitolina’s reluctance to shake hands with all the players from Russia and Belarus.
Victoria packed her things and headed to the under-tribune room. The fans began to whistle and buzz disapprovingly, believing that Vika had shown disrespect to the victorious rival. The reaction of the stands caused only an ironic smile from Azarenka. At the press conference, Victoria also adequately commented on the post-match incident.
“Am I a victim of someone not shaking my hand? I am begging you! She does not want to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians. I respected her decision. What should I do, stand and wait? the tennis player said.
In fact, Svitolina harshly framed her opponent, setting fans who did not understand the situation on her. Svitolina herself, after the incident, did not apologize to Azarenka, but made a ridiculous statement. Like, the organizers should explain to the audience about the reluctance of Ukrainian players to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians. Does Elina want anything more?
Drunk crowd in the stands
At the same time, the Belarusian athlete raised a very burning issue for yesterday’s games at Wimbledon. The July weather in the UK does not seem to be particularly hot for the spectators in the stands. July 9 was around 20 degrees. But local fans behaved somehow too inadequately.
— I think it was a great tennis match. If people only focus on the handshakes or the crowd, the rather drunken crowd booing at the end of the match, it will be sad,” Azarenka added.
The audience really behaved inappropriately that day. The match of Russian tennis players Anastasia Potapova and Mirra Andreeva was stopped due to an incident with alcohol.
Someone in the stands came up with an idea right before Potapova’s serve. The spectator opened a bottle of champagne with a loud sound. The referee even had to stop the game and reprimand the viewer.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please, if you open a bottle, don’t do it when the players are about to serve,” the referee said.
At the same time, the rules of Wimbledon are clearly established: the audience must uncork all bottles even before they appear in the stands.
Such ambiguous incidents once again raise questions about the work of the organizers, who this year do not take the best care of maintaining order at the tournament.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.