The public will now be notified. To avoid controversy. In any case, this is what the WTA promises ahead of the match between Elina Svitolina and Victoria Azarenka in Washington. As a reminder, the Ukrainian has repeatedly said that she will not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the geopolitical situation in her country. At a press conference this Sunday, Svitolina warned that no handshake will take place between her and her opponent.
The 27th in the world explained that the WTA would change its attitude by announcing the decision of the players to the public before the match. “After our match at Wimbledon, the WTA, as you know, I said that there will be no handshake between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players. Just yesterday I spoke with Steve Simon (women’s tennis executive) and he told me that they would announce before our match that there would be no handshake. So I’m happy with that.” she said. Indeed, at Wimbledon, the two players had met in the round of 16 in a very tight match won on the wire by the Ukrainian, the match had ended under the whistles of the London public.