Belarus' Victoria Azarenka experienced a bitter ending to her 'battle of the mums' dubbed Wimbledon match against Ukrainian rival Elina Svitolina.
Despite putting on a captivating display for nearly three hours, the Belarusian was met with boos and a lack of sportsmanship from the crowd.
Perplexed and disappointed, Azarenka was left questioning why the spectators had suddenly turned hostile.
In response to the negative reaction, Azarenka expressed her disappointment, deeming it "unfair."
However, she chose not to dwell on the matter, realizing that the crowd may have been unaware of the reason behind her decision not to shake hands with Svitolina at the end of the match.
Ever since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Svitolina has stood firm in her stance of refraining from shaking hands with players from both countries.
During a press conference, when asked if she felt victimized by the crowd, Azarenka snapped back, emphasizing that the issue of not shaking hands was trivial in the grand scheme of things.
She acknowledged that she had no control over the crowd's behavior and speculated that perhaps the consumption of Pimm's throughout the day had played a role in the audience's response.
Despite feeling mistreated by the crowd, Azarenka refused to assign blame to Svitolina for the predicament.
The two players have a long-standing relation, and Azarenka respected Svitolina's decision.
She pondered what else she could have done in the situation, asserting there was no right course of action.
Azarenka maintained that she had acted respectfully toward Svitolina's choice, though she confessed to feeling that she often received different treatment.
While most of the attention was focused on the post-match incident, Azarenka believed that the on-court battle deserved recognition and applause.
She regarded it as an exceptional tennis match and expressed disappointment that the emphasis had shifted to handshakes and the rowdy, inebriated crowd.
Svitolina suggested that similar situations could be avoided in the future if tournament organizers issued a statement clarifying that "there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian players."
She believed that some spectators were unaware of the context and that an official announcement would help alleviate confusion.
