Elina Svitolina on Aryna Sabalenka waiting for handshake: “My initial reaction was, what are you doing?”

Elina Svitolina recently spoke about Aryna Sabalenka waiting for her at the net after their quarterfinal clash at the 2023 French Open. Svitolina said that her position on shaking hands with Russian and Belarussian players was already clear, so she found it absurd that her Belarussian opponent still chose to wait at the net after the match.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka ended Elina Svitolina’s resurgent run at Roland Garros with a 6-4, 6-4 victory on Tuesday. This was the third career meeting between the two athletes, with Sabalenka now leading their head-to-head 2-1.

Svitolina had already declared earlier she would not shake hands with Russian and Belarussian players in solidarity with the Ukrainian government. The 28-year-old had faced Russians Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, and did not shake hands after either encounter.

However, after her quarterfinal defeat to Sabalenka, the latter waited at the net for Svitolina for the customary handshake. When asked about her thoughts on Sabalenka waiting at the net, Svitolina said she was baffled by the action.

“My initial reaction, don't know, was like, what are you doing?” Svitolina said. “Because, yeah, all my press conference I say my clear position. So I don't know.”

Svitolina also mentioned that the World No. 2 should have known about the Ukrainian players’ stance as she had faced Marta Kostyuk in the first round.

“Maybe she's not on social media during the tournaments, but it is pretty clear. I made multiple statements that I'm not shaking hands, and she played obviously Marta as well the first round. So is quite simple, you know,” she added.

Svitolina was also asked if she felt Sabalenka’s action inflamed the situation, to which she replied in the affirmative. The crowd booed Svitolina as she headed to her bench, which the Ukrainian said was expected in these situations.

“It was quite expected. I was expecting that. Whoever in this situation loses, I guess, gets booed, so I was expecting that. It was not a surprise for me,” she said.

“Not gonna sell my country for the likeness of people” - Elina Svitolina on being booed by crowd

Elina Svitolina was asked about how she felt at being booed by the crowd as she refused Sabalenka the handshake. The Ukrainian replied that she would stand by her position and not change it for the crowd's approval.

“As I said, I have my position. I'm standing by this position. Not gonna sell my country for the likeness of people,” she said.

Svitolina will next feature in the grass-court tournament in Birmingham, for which she has received a wildcard. She was asked if she expected more hostility from the crowd in the UK, to which she replied that the Brits have been extremely supportive of Ukrainians, and that she does not focus on the booing.

“Well, the support that we got from UK was massive,” she said. “Taking the case of Wimbledon last year and great support for Ukrainian people in the UK and really thankful for them to taking the position.”

The Rothesay Classic WTA 250 event in Birmingham will commence on June 19. It will also feature former World No. 1 Venus Williams, who is making her comeback to the tour after nearly six months.