"Self-righteousness of some journalists in UK is disgraceful" - Tennis fans left fuming as Elina Svitolina fields questions about Belarus at Wimbledon

A question posed to losing semifinalist Elina Svitolina about the possibility of the Princess of Wales having to hand over the Wimbledon trophy to Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka has evoked strong reactions amongst tennis fans.

While Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur were battling for a spot in the final, a member of the British press asked Svitolina how bad it would look, symbolically, if the Wimbledon trophy had to be given to a Belarusian. The hypothetical question was snubbed by the Ukrainian, who said she was not in a state of mind to reply to something she hadn't thought about at all.

"Svitolina was asked about Sabalenka in press, 'How bad would it look, symbolically, if the Princess of Wales ends up giving the trophy to a Belarusian.' Elina: 'I didn’t think about this at all. Right now, I’m not in a good state of mind to reply to this question.'"

But while Svitolina refused to react to the loaded question, fans on social media didn't hold back. One of them highlighted the "self-righteousness" of some journalists in the UK, while another pointed out that not everyone cared for the Royals as much as the British did.

"This is absolutely outrageous! The self-righteousness of some journalists in the UK is disgraceful. Enough with this constant bullying and harassment of Russian and Belarusian players. As if UK have never gone to war with anybody and let’s not even start with colonization!"

"British people really go around thinking we all care so much their royals, this woman’s home has been destroyed and they think she gives a shit about Kate Middletons pr ?????"

Attempting to delve into the intentions behind the question posed by the journalist, one fan asked if the person concerned was "looking for an answer on a scale of 1-10."

"Was this journalist looking for an answer on a scale of 1 to 10? An emoji? What? What were they looking for?"

Several other fans have voiced their reactions on the subject. Here are some of those tweets.

Aryna Sablenka's Wimbledon campaign ends soon after Elina Svitolina's semifinal defeat

Jabeur manufactured a stunning comeback to trounce Sabalenka

The possibility of a repeat of the French Open drama, when Elina Svitolina refused to shake hands with Aryna Sabalenka, was snuffed out on Thursday as both players lost their respective Wimbledon semifinal matches.

While Elina Svitolina was defeated by unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3, Ons Jabeur, who trailed Aryna Sabalenka 2-4 in the second set after having lost the first, dug deep to emerge victorious 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.

Sabalenka needed to get past Jabeur to dethrone Iga Swiatek as the WTA World No. 1, but she lost her way in the final set. The final of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships women's singles tournament, between Jabeur and Vondrousova, will be played on Saturday, July 15.