Elina Svitolina and Daria Kasatkina have both criticised the Roland Garros crowd after the Russian star was booed off court on Monday.
Kasatkina has been one of the most vocal Russian player on the tennis circuit to have spoken out against the country’s war with Ukraine and has previously expressed sympathy and support for the Ukrainian players on the WTA Tour.
However, that all went over the heads of the French Open crowd when Kasatkina was rudely heckled by sections of the crowd as she left the stadium following Svitolina’s 6-4 7-6 victory.
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Svitolina, Ukraine’s highest profile player, has always been popular with the Parisian crowd as a result of her relationship with French star Gael Monfils.
It was a mix of circumstances that all led to an angry reaction towards Kasatkina when she flashed a thumbs-up sign to Svitolina while standing at the net instead of waiting for Svitolina to reach the net for a handshake.
Svitolina was seen giving Kasatkina a thumbs-up in return and in her post match press conference showed her support for her opponent.
French tennis journalist Quentin Moynet said there had been a level of “stupidity” from the sections of the crowd that booed Kasatkina.
Other commentators have praised Kasatkina, one of the few players who has announced she is gay, for her brave behaviour throughout the Ukrainian-Russian war — and her actions that spared Svitolina the ordeal of shaking hands with a Russian player, even if the two players had no issue with each other.
“Really thankful for her position that she took,” Svitolina said after the match.
“Yeah, she’s a really brave person to say it publicly, that not so many players did. She’s a brave one.”
Former American congressman Joe Walsh wrote on Twitter: “What does real courage look like? It looks like this. Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina”.
Veteran tennis journalist Chris Clarey also wrote: “If you know the backstory, this is more powerful than a handshake”.
Kasatkina said she had been stunned by the jeers she received from the crowd, insisting she was “just being respectful on my opponent’s position not to shake hands”.
“Leaving Paris with a very bitter feeling,” she wrote on Twitter.
“All this days, after every match I’ve played in Paris I always appreciate and thanked crowd for support and being there for the players. But yesterday I was booed for just being respectful on my opponents position not to shake hands.
“Me and Elina showed respect to each other after a tough match but leaving the court like that was the worse part of yesterday. Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate. Try to make this world better. I will love RG no matter what, always and forever. See u next year.
The war in Ukraine has been a constant issue at the tournament ever since world number two Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk on the opening weekend.
Kostyuk was booed for refusing to shake the hand of Sabalenka in protest over the war in which Belarus is a close ally of Russia.
Sabalenka has refused to carry out media commitments, claiming she does not “feel safe” having faced a barrage of questions over her stance on the war and her links to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
On Wednesday, Sabalenka will face Svitolina for a place in the semi-finals. Svitolina has already said she will maintain the position of all Ukraine players in refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents.