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16-year-old tennis player Yelyzaveta Kotliar from Ukraine has reportedly found herself in hot water after shaking hands with Russia’s Vlada Mincheva during her girl's singles match at the Australian Open 2024.
In the first round of the girls’ singles category, Kotliar lost 2-6, 4-6 to her Russian opponent in an hour and 10 minutes. Kotliar courted controversy, however, by going up to Mincheva and shaking hands with her at the end of the match at Melbourne Park.
This was a surprise to many, given that since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 players from Russia and Ukraine have not been shaking hands with each other. Ukrainian tennis players started the tradition to show solidarity with their countryfolk and their soldiers fighting for their lives on the frontlines of the war.
According to multiple sources on the internet, the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Ukraine did not accept Kotliar’s claim that it was an innocent mistake. The ministry will reportedly be looking into the matter soon.
Tensions keep rising between Ukrainian and Russian tennis players on tour 2 years since the start of war
Amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, most notable Ukrainian players, including the likes of Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko, have refrained from shaking hands with their Russian opponents. Recently, Tsurenko did not shake hands with World No. 2 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka after losing 0-6, 0-6 at the 2024 Australian Open.
Marta Kostyuk has also been vocal about the rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
On Sunday, the youngster defeated qualifier Maria Timofeeva 6-2, 6-1 and advanced to the quarterfinal of the Australian Open. However, she was not happy at the official social media handles of US Open showing the Russian flag beside Timofeeva while displaying the result.
It is pertinent to note that players from Russia and Belarus take part in Grand Slams as neutral athletes.
Kostyuk had also criticised players for taking part in exhibition matches in Russia from December 1 to 3. Anastasia Potapova, Alexander Bublik, Adrian Mannarino, and Karen Khachanov were among the players who took part in the matches.
"Russia is very well-known for very well psychological pressure and propaganda. t's really their specialty. You know, they're not bad at it. They're actually really good. People, they get caught in it. You really need to be sharp all the time,” she said.
"Every single day there are choices in front of you about anything. I feel like as long as people are doing easy choices and the ones that benefit them the most, this is where we have a problem. Like, what's going on in the world? Look around," Kostyuk added.
