WTA to formally announce there will be no handshake between Elina Svitolina & Victoria Azarenka before Citi Open clash, to prevent booing from fans

Elina Svitolina has confirmed that the WTA will make an announcement about her no-handshake stance before her match against Victoria Azarenka at the Citi Open.

Svitolina and Azarenka faced each other not long back, in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships. Svitolina won that match 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) to book her place in the quarterfinals.

After the match, Azarenka was booed by the crowd as she walked off the court. There was no post-match handshake between her and Svitolina given the Ukrainian players' stance of refusing to shake hands with their Russian and Belarusian counterparts, but the crowd misconstrued that as Azarenka's decision.

Elina Svitolina has steadfastly maintained that Ukrainian players would not shake hands with their colleagues from Russia and Belarus, and she spoke about the matter during a press conference ahead of the Citi Open. The 28-year-old also said she had had a word with WTA chief executive Steve Simon, who assured her that the organization would announce before her match against Azarenka that there would be no post-match handshake.

"Yes, after our match at Wimbledon, WTA, as you know, came out with the statement that there would be no handshakes between Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian players. Also yesterday I had a chat with Steve Simon and he told me that they will announce before our match that there will be no handshake. So I'm happy with that," Svitolina said.

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Elina Svitolina will face Victoria Azarenka for the 7th time

Elina Svitolina in action at Wimbledon

The first-round match at the Citi Open will be the seventh meeting between Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka. The latter currently leads 5-1 in the head-to-head between the two.

Svitolina registered her very first win over Azarenka when she beat the former World No. 1 at Wimbledon.

Speaking about Svitolina's game in recent weeks, Azarenka said that the Ukrainian was playing more freely due to the fact that she was returning after a long layoff, thus not having to defend any points.

"I mean, I said that in Wimbledon. Definitely feels like she's playing free. You know, she's just coming back. So there is nothing to defend, only things to gain. In one way, I would say it's an advantage, but it depends how you look at it," Azarenka said.

"I feel that it is definitely helping her to play more freely. She's been playing well. Definitely the results are there. I'm looking forward to, you know, to a challenge, for sure. Yeah, it's going to be a different match, different surface, different city. Quite a few things different. Yeah, it's going to be a battle. It always is," she added.

The winner of the match between Svitolina and Azarenka will face either fifth seed Daria Kasatkina or Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 of the Citi Open.