Australian tennis fans have questioned Elina Svitolina's actions after the Ukrainian star refused to shake her Australian Open opponent's hand in the fourth round at Melbourne Park.
Svitolina continued her inspired run to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Monday for the first time in six years.
The former world No. 3 followed her third-round elimination of fourth seed Jasmine Paolini with a straight-sets victory over Veronika Kudermetova on Monday.
After falling behind 4-1 in the first set, Svitolina made the most of an injury to Kudermetova to beat the injured Russian 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.
However, the Ukrainian then refused to shake her Russian opponent's hand, instead shaking the chair umpire's hand and then heading straight to a broadcast camera to write a message for her fans.
“The spirit of Ukraine,” Svitolina wrote while drawing a heart on the camera.
Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina (left) refused to shake hands with her Russian opponent Veronika Kudermetova at the Australian Open.
Svitolina wrote a message of support to the people of Ukraine in front of a camera after her match against the Russian.
Kudermetova was gracious about the snub and waved goodbye to the Melbourne crowd before leaving the arena.
Svitolina's snub was due to the Ukrainian war that has devastated her home country.
The Ukraine War began in February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion, a war that continues to this day.
In 2022, tennis players representing Russia and Belarus were excluded from Wimbledon. They were also previously forced to compete in events such as the Australian Open in 2023 as individuals, without flag or country recognition.
Svitolina has taken her own position privately, refusing to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents while the war continues.
That included not shaking hands with Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2023.
“She doesn't want to shake hands with Russians and Belarusians,” the former WTA number one said then.
'I respected his decision. What should I have done?
'But this conversation about shaking hands is not a life-changing conversation. So if you want to keep talking about it, bringing it up, making a big deal out of it, headlines, whatever, go ahead. “I thought it was a great tennis match.”
Svitolina previously refused to shake hands with Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka at Wimbledon due to the conflict in Ukraine.
The Ukraine war has been a sensitive topic in world tennis, with flags recently banned at events such as the Australian Open.
Svitolina declared that she would not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players ahead of the 2023 French Open and has called on all Ukrainian players to do the same.
“I think the tennis organizations have to issue a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian players,” he said in 2023.
'I don't know if maybe it's not clear to people. I have already said several times that until Russian troops leave Ukraine and we recover our territories, we are not going to shake hands.
'I have a clear statement. I don't know to what extent I can be clearer.
While Azarenka was unimpressed by Svitolina's stance, tennis fans were divided over her snub at Kudermetova on social media.
“This handshake thing is getting embarrassing,” one fan posted on X.
“I had to rewind it because I thought I missed the shake,” said one confused follower.
“Politics and sports should never mix,” said another.
Svitolina did not speak about her opponent after the victory, instead telling former Australian tennis star Casey Dellacqua that she had faced adversity since her last appearance in the Australian Open quarterfinals.
“It was a long time ago, it feels like a lifetime ago,” he said.
“So many things happened… having our daughter Skai, and then also the surgery… a lot of things happened, and I am very satisfied with the performance during this tournament.
“I was just trying to fight, this fighting spirit… the only thing you can do when things aren't going your way is put your head down and get back to work, and my team helped me a lot.”
Svitolina said there was intense preparation behind her run at the Australian Open in 2025.
“It's hours and hours on the court, off the court, in the gym,” he said.
'I also think the mental (side) played an important role here because coming back again and again after pregnancy, after surgeries, starting from scratch… it's not easy, I can tell you.
“For me it is a really incredible feeling to go far in these tournaments, in the Grand Slams.”