Daria Kasatkina rips 'unfair' French Open crowd treatment after Elina Svitolina match

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Russian tennis star Daria Kasatkina was seemingly very disappointed with the reaction from the French Open crowd following the conclusion of her round-of-16 match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. For quite some time, Ukrainian players haven't been shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian colleagues.

After Svitolina claimed a 6-4 7-6 (5) win, Kasatkina gave Svitolina a thumbs-up - to which the Ukrainian responded by returning a thumbs-up. Last year, Kasatkina publicly criticized the Russian government and expressed support for Ukraine.

But Kasatkina was booed off court by the French Open crowd moments after the match against Svitolina ended.

Kasatkina disappointed after being booed by the French Open crowd

"Leaving Paris with a very bitter feeling. All this days, after every match I’ve played in Paris I always appreciate and thanked crowd for support and being there for the players.

But yesterday I was booed for just being respectful on my opponents position not to shake hands. Me and Elina showed respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court like that was the worse part of yesterday.

Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate. Try to make this world better. I will love RG no matter what, always and forever. See you next year," Kasatkina tweeted.

Me and Elina showed respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court like that was the worse part of yesterday.

Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate. Try to make this world better💜 I will love RG no matter what, always and forever. See u next year🇫🇷 — Daria Kasatkina (@DKasatkina) June 5, 2023

Meanwhile, Kasatkina fought extremely hard before falling short to Svitolina in two sets.

In the 10th game of the second set, Svitolina had a chance to serve out for the match. But Kasatkina refused to quit as the Russian saved a match point en route to breaking back Svitolina. After failing to serve out for the match, Svitolina broke Kasatkina again in the 11th game for a 6-5 lead.

Again, Kasatkina was able to get the break back and force a tie-break. In the second-set tie-break, Kasatkina had a 5-4 lead before Svitolina won the next three points to seal a two-set win.