Watch: Elina Svitolina gets booed, hits out at Aryna Sabalenka over net stand-off

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Elina Svitolina was booed by the French Open crowd after refusing to shake hands with Aryna Sabalenka at the net. After Sabalenka handed Svitolina a 6-4 6-4 defeat in the quarterfinal, the Belarusian stood at the net waiting for a handshake although the Ukrainian made it pretty clear there would be no handshake at the net.

As Svitolina was heading toward her bench and Sabalenka waiting at the net, the French Open crowd started booing the Ukrainian.

Aryna Sabalenka gets the better of Elina Svitolina to advance to the French Open semi-finals!

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The two do not share a handshake at the net ❌#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/OR0SLzLJwZ — Eurosport (@eurosport) June 6, 2023

After the match was over, Svitolina was asked whether Sabalenka's actions only inflamed the tension.

"Yeah, I think so, unfortunately. I don't know why she was waiting, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake. I was expecting that. Whoever in this situation loses, I guess, gets booed, so I was expecting that.

It was not a surprise for me," Svitolina said, per France24.

Svitolina on Sabalenka waiting for a handshake

For quite some time, Sabalenka and other Ukrainian players haven't been shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players.

"What are you doing? I made my position clear. Maybe she's (Sabalenka) not on social media during the tournament, but it is pretty clear. She played Marta as well the first round. So is quite simple," Svitolina said. Also, Svitolina addresses Sabalenka skipping back-to-back press conferences at the French Open after being confronted by a Ukrainian journalist about her views on the war.

"It should be equal for everyone. For example, Naomi got fined last time and this time there is no fine for the player, who also skips the press conference. I faced difficulties, I faced difficulty also with the question about Novak, about his statement about Kosovo.

So I'm not escaping. I have my strong position, and I'm vocal about that. I'm not going try to win likeness of the people by betraying my strong belief and strongest position for my country," Svitolina said.