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The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has told players that they are not required to shake hands with an opponent after a match.
They issued the statement after what they described as an “unfortunate circumstances and misunderstanding”.
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, playing as a wild card, had called for an official statement to be made by tennis authorities on the question of handshakes.
Svitolina refused to shake hands with number 19 seed Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus after winning her fourth round match at Wimbledon 2-6, 6-4, 7-6..
“Due to the ongoing reprehensible war, the WTA respects the position of the Ukrainian athletes in foregoing the tradition of shaking opponents’ hands [from Russia and Belarus] at the end of a match, as this is a personal decision,” the WTA statement said.
“We have some of the best fans in the world and are grateful for their passion and dedication, and we thank them for their understanding and respect for the athletes.”
Svitolina had made her own call for the tennis authorities to give guidance.
“I think tennis organisations should make an official statement that Ukrainian athletes will not shake hands with representatives of Russia and Belarus, I don’t know, maybe people don’t understand something, maybe they don’t know what’s going on, ” Svitolina said after the match.
Last year Wimbledon had imposed a ban on players from Belarus and Russia taking part in the Championships.
“Last year it was a clear message from Wimbledon, this year it was changed because of a different kind of pressure, I don’t really support the change,” Svitolina added.
Earlier this year at the French Open, Svitolina opted not to shake hands with Russians, Anna Blinkova and Daria Kasatkina, both playing as neutrals.
