Elena Ostapenko, who is of Ukrainian origin, drew attention to the decision of the country’s authorities.
There is a new addition to the list of tennis players who refuse to shake hands with representatives of aggressor countries. Moreover, this time it was not the representative of Ukraine who decided to ignore the rules and the opponent.
Latvian tennis player Jelena Ostapenko lost to Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the tournament in Doha, Qatar, and did not shake hands with the Belarusian after the game.
At first, fans assumed that the representative of Latvia decided to do such an act because he has Ukrainian roots and plays in a pair with our Lyudmila Kichenok. However, before Ostapenko always shook hands with athletes from aggressor countries.
Most likely, the different behavior is due to the decision of the Latvian authorities. We would like to remind you that the Latvian Seimas previously forbade its athletes to compete in competitions with Russians or Belarusians, regardless of the flag played by the representatives of the aggressor countries.
1⃣5⃣0⃣ win on hard court 👏@vika7 defeated Ostapenko in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 and will face Swiatek in the quarterfinals.#QatarTotalEnergiesOpen pic.twitter.com/ET4xMqmofj
— wta (@WTA) February 14, 2024
Source: korrespondent
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
