Victoria Azarenka was booed by the Wimbledon crowd after Elina Svitolina refused to shake her hand at the end of their match. The encounter was the first between a Ukrainian and a Belarusian player at the tournament since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Svitolina had already confirmed she would not shake hands with Azarenka and stuck to her word, leaving the Belarusian to gesture at the net as the crowd turned on her.
Speaking after her defeat, Azarenka was clearly unhappy with the reception. In her post-match press conference, she responded to questions by asking reporters: "What do you think? What do you think how was the crowd?" When told she must be very upset, she replied: "I think we can both agree on that."
Elsewhere at SW19, the tournament has come under fire for its scheduling, with matches frequently running towards the 11pm curfew. Andy Murray has added his voice to calls to scrap the 1.30pm starts, sharing an article by Times tennis reporter Stuart Fraser. Novak Djokovic, whose match against Hubert Hurkacz was suspended by the curfew with one set remaining, is expected to voice similar displeasure.
There was also an unusual moment during Mirra Andreeva's third-round match against Anastasia Potapova, when umpire John Blom asked a fan not to open a champagne bottle. The crowd appeared unsure how to react to the announcement.
