The Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina faced the Russian player Anna Kalinskaya at the Italian Open. During the press conference, Elina emphasized the reasons behind her refusal to shake hands with her rivals from Belarus or Russia.

The continuous Russian invasion of Svitolina’s native nation is undoubtedly the cause. Following her triumph over Kalinskaya of Russia, the Ukrainian tennis player greeted and thanked the Italian audience before explaining why she had been so cold from her opponent.

Svitolina expressed her remarks in a press conference and said: “It’s very sad and frustrating to me that people don’t understand this. It’s an obvious thing not to shake hands when I have so many friends on the front lines fighting for Ukraine. Can you imagine them watching me compete and seeing me shake hands as if nothing had happened? People need to understand that sometimes you can’t separate politics from sports. They represent their country and I represent mine in the world. In this sense, my position must be clear.”

Elina Svitolina in 2024

Currently ranked no.19, the Ukrainian played her last match on the 13^th of May when she was overcome by world no.2 Aryna Sabalenka 4-6 6-1 7-6(7) in the 4^th round in Rome (draw).

Currently, during this season Elina achieved a 14-9 win-loss record. Elina Svitolina’s most significant accomplishment of the current season was reaching the final in Auckland.