Last month at Wimbledon, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka’s tournament ended to boos. The spectators heckled her because she had not shaken hands with her rival, the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
A month earlier, it was Svitolina’s turn to be booed, this time by the French public at Roland-Garros, because she had not gone to congratulate the one who had just beaten her, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, in the net.
The organizers of the National Bank Open obviously do not want such an outcome in Montreal, and they have taken steps not to relive the situation.
Thus, if one of the three Ukrainian players (Svitolina, Anhelina Kalinina or Lesia Tsurenko) faces a player from Russia or Belarus, the following message will be broadcast on the giant screens:
“Due to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, which is still ongoing, the players will not shake hands at the end of this game. We thank you for respecting both athletes during and after the match, and for your understanding in these difficult circumstances. »
“Last week in Washington, they made an announcement like that in advance, it was a first, explained Valérie Tétreault, director of the Montreal section of the National Bank Open. It wasn’t so much fun watching Azarenka get booed at Wimbledon after her match. »
No first round match will feature players from the countries concerned, but two duels could potentially take place in the second round. Azarenka will face the winner of the duel between Kalinina and the American Sloane Stephens, while Sabalenka has an appointment with the winner of the match between Tsurenko and the Croatian Petra Martic.
At the end of the line, Ahmad Nassar seems a bit incredulous that the management of players from countries at war is still a subject of discussion, a year and a half after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
Nassar is the executive director of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), basically the players association. He represents both ATP and WTA players, but the problem is more acute on the women’s side, since at the ATP, there are no Ukrainians in the world top 150.
“It’s a shame that we left the players to their own devices for over a year,” Nassar said in an interview with La Presse. I’m surprised we’re having this conversation in the summer of 2023, rather than the summer of 2022. People are going to wonder, why are we still talking about this? The solution seems simple enough, right? »
Nassar is based in the Washington area, so was on hand at last week’s tournament when the message was released during a match between Svitolina and Azarenka. It was before the match, as well as after the first round.
“The viewers read the message and understood. So it has an immediate effect, because it avoids any confusion, it avoids believing that a player does not give the hand on purpose, because we understand that it is linked to factors unrelated to the match. »
In a press briefing on Monday, Svitolina said that she had been warned by Steve Simon, director of the WTA, that such a message would be broadcast. “I said after the match against Vika [Azarenka] at Wimbledon that there should be an announcement, and the WTA reacted. I think it went well, there were no boos. »
The Ukrainian, former number 3 in the world, currently 26th, is one of the players most committed to the war in her country. On her Instagram account is pinned a photo of her with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Two weeks ago, Svitolina recalled on Twitter that she refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players, in reaction to a similar story in fencing.
Azarenka seemed unhappy to return to the subject, after her resounding victory of 6-3, 6-0 against Poland’s Magda Linette. At least that’s what we deduced from his long sigh at the beginning of the answer.
“I’m so tired of talking about it. I hope these statements will ensure that we will not talk about it anymore. If I face Kalinina, I don’t know… We joined hands when we faced each other in Adelaide this year. »
“It is a personal choice of Ukrainian athletes. It’s not common practice, I wouldn’t do it, but I’m in no position to judge. But that’s not common in sports. Except that as I have often said, I respect the choice of others. »
“If these messages help the crowd understand the situation, it’s probably a good educational process. But I don’t think handshakes are life-changing solutions. »
