Victoria Azarenka booed off court by Wimbledon crowd

A gripping match between Azarenka and Svitolina resulted in the Ukrainian coming back from a set down to book her place in the Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon, for the first time as a mother!

An incredible match with some controversy to top it off, rounded a fantastic day of play at The All England Club. In the end Svitolina managed to claw her way back in the match 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(9). A very tense match was rounded with an ace from the world number 76 to secure her name in a Quarter-Final battle against top seed, Iga Swiatek.

Azarenka Unhappy

Following her defeat to the Ukrainian, the Wimbledon crowd were booing the two-time Grand slam champion off court. This brought up some controversy in the post-match reactions. Svitolina, who refuses to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian athletes for political reasons, received a hand of respect from Azarenka as the match concluded. This was taken as a sign of disrespect from the Wimbledon crowd. 

Crowd ‘Unfair’ and ‘Drunk’

In Azarenka’s post match press conference she labelled the crowd as ‘unfair’ and ‘drunk’. The crowd seemed to have focused on the missing handshake without acknowledging the reason for this. Azarenka felt a victim to the Wimbledon crowd and said that she was ‘not sure that a lot of people were understanding what’s happening’. 

Contrasting Emotions

Earlier on in the year, Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina (both Ukrainian), were jeered by the Roland Garros crowd for the lack of respect for their opponent - Aryna Sabalenka who is of Belarusian nationality. It is often argued that sport and politics should be kept apart, however the female Ukrainian tennis players led by Svitolina have opted to demonstrate their opinion on court. 

Ecstatic Elina

Despite many controversial opinions on her actions, the Ukrainian will be fighting it out against Iga Swiatek for a place in the Semi-Finals. She described her victory as the ‘second-happiest moment in my life’ of course after the birth of her daughter. She has been relieved of childcare duties for just a fortnight, as father Gael Monfils - who withdrawn from this year’s Wimbledon - will be taking care of daughter Skai.