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Victoria Azarenka says she is "tired" of speaking about the no-handshake between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players. For many months now, Ukrainian players haven't been shaking hands with Tour colleagues from Russia and Belarus.
After all the drama at Wimbledon, the Washington organizers made an announcement last week that there would be no handshake after the Azarenka and Elina Svitolina match. This week in Montreal, Azarenka was again asked about the no-handshake that has been going between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players.
Azarenka highlighted that the Ukrainian players stopped shaking hands with them and added she respects that decision.
Azarenka on the no-handshake policy between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players
"So tired of talking about this.
So I would hope that finally maybe the statement will be stop talking about this. I feel like the very clear message is a personal choice of Ukrainian athletes to do that. That's not the standard practice. That's not something I would be doing, but I'm not in a position to judge.
I respect somebody's decision, but it is not -- yeah, I don't think it's a standard practice in sports. And as I said I don't know how many times now, I will respect and accept the choice of the other player," Azarenka said.
Following a loss to Svitolina at Wimbledon, Azarenka got booed off court. After the match, Svitolina said maybe Wimbledon should start releasing statements that there would be no handshake after matches between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players.
Wimbledon rejected Svitolina's proposal but the Washington organizers granted that wish last week. “At the conclusion of the match, there will be no handshake between the players. We appreciate your respect for both athletes during and following the match, and for your understanding during these difficult circumstances," the message on the screen read during the Azarenka and Svitolina match in Washington. After their Washington, Azarenka and Svitolina didn't shake hands but there were no boos.