ELINA SVITOLINA has confirmed that the Washington crowd will be informed of her decision not to shake Victoria Azarenka’s hand ahead of their match tonight.
The Ukrainian has drawn the Belarusian in the first round of this week’s Mubadala City DC Open.
Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina did not shake hands after their Wimbledon fourth round
Azarenka, 34, gestured to the crowd as she was booed off
Svitolina beat Azarenka on her way to the Wimbledon semi-finals
Their rematch comes just three weeks after Svitolina defeated Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 in a thrilling fourth round match at Wimbledon.
Given the ongoing war in Ukraine, Svitolina did not shake hands with Azarenka after the match.
Knowing her opponent’s stance in advance, Azarenka respectfully headed straight to her bag, avoiding an awkward snub at the net.
The 34-year-old was subsequently booed off No.1 Court, before incredulously making a hand gesture at the crowd and blasting them in her post-match press conference.
Azarenka said: “What should I have done? Stayed and waited?
“She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision.”
With the pair having drawn each other again, Svitolina confirmed that following a conversation with WTA chief Steve Simon, the crowd will now be made aware of her stance prior to the match.
She said: “After our match at Wimbledon, the WTA, as you know, I said that there will be no handshake between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players.
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“Just yesterday I spoke with Steve Simon and he told me that they would announce before our match that there would be no handshake. So I am happy with that.”
Ukrainians have been drawn against Russians and Belarusians many times this season.
Most notably Belarusian world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka played Marta Kostyuk and Svitolina on her way to the Roland Garros semi-finals.
While Russian Daria Kasatkina was booed off by the Paris crowd following her lack of handshake with Svitolina.
There was no handshake between Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk at Roland Garros
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