Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, who lost in a nail-biting match to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon, thinks it “wasn’t fair” that Wimbledon spectators booed her off the court.

Since the commencement of the conflict in Ukraine, Svitolina has avoided shaking hands with Russians or Belarusians after matches.

Although she has often stated her viewpoint, Azarenka was the target of jeers as she exited Court One because she did not meet her at the net.

What ought I to have done?” continued to wait?” Azarenka questioned the media.

She doesn’t want to shake hands with folks from Russia or Belarus. I accepted her choice.

Svitolina, a wildcard, won a fantastic match 2-6 6-4 7-6 (11-9) in front of a boisterous Wimbledon crowd to go to the quarterfinals.

Azarenka respectfully waved to Svitolina when she won the first match point with an ace but the Ukrainian made no response.

The 33-year-old Azarenka hesitated as she left Court One after hearing the jeers and gestured to the audience before vanishing.

Svitolina, 28, claimed she “could not really answer” when asked if she was surprised by the nasty reception Azarenka received from the British fans.

Svitolina received jeers when she left the court at the French Open last month without shaking hands with Belarusian quarterfinalist Aryna Sabalenka.

Svitolina, who had her daughter Skai in October and had only recently returned to playing, said, “I feel like each player that loses, and there is no handshake, is getting booed.”

“I believe that a statement stating that there would be no handshake between Russian/Belarusian and Ukrainian players needs to be released by the tennis organizations.

“I’m not sure if it’s unclear for some folks.

“I’ve previously made it clear numerous times that I won’t shake hands with anyone until Russian troops have left Ukraine and we have reclaimed our territories.

“My position is crystal obvious. I’m not sure how much clearer I can get.

The response to Azarenka marked an extraordinary conclusion to a compelling match, and the former world number one hoped that people would instead pay attention to the caliber of the duo’s tennis.

“I thought the pairing was excellent. It’s unfortunate if attention will just be focused on handshakes or a loud, inebriated crowd booing at the conclusion, she continued.

A tennis match took place. Nobody’s life are changing here. Tennis is being played. We’re performing our duties. There you go.