Balding planning Wimbledon final warning to BBC viewers with statement expected

Highlights from day nine at Wimbledon

Clare Balding has confirmed that the BBC will inform viewers that Ukrainian Wimbledon star Elina Svitolina will not be shaking hands with any Russian or Belarussian players should they meet in the final on Saturday. In contrast to the tournament officials, the Beeb are planning to take action to help prevent a repeat of Victoria Azarenka being booed off the court.

The crowd did not appear to be aware that Svitolina and Belarussian Azarenka had already agreed not to shake hands, as they booed Azarenka off the court after she was knocked out by Svitolina in the fourth round. There have since been calls for the All England Club to educate crowds on this information, which has since been refuted.

However, BBC host Balding in conversation with pundits Tracy Austin and Todd Woodbridge – who both tipped Svitolina to face Belarussian Aryna Sabalenka in the final, confirmed that the broadcaster would take the opposite stance to Wimbledon.

“So you’re [Austin and Woodbridge] going – and can I just raise this headline – you’re going for the Ukrainian Svitolina to meet Arena Sabalenka in the final,” Balding asked. “OK so that will be an interesting ending match, no [handshake] indeed, and we’ll need to tell everyone that will not happen – don’t boo, it’s just not going to happen if that is the case.”

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Svitolina has led the calls for Wimbledon to release a statement before games to help fans understand the situation. When asked about the hostile reception that Azarenka received, the Ukraine star said: “I got the same in Paris where I played three matches… For me personally I think the tennis organisations have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian/Belarusian and Ukrainian players. I don’t know if it’s unclear for some people, maybe they don’t know what’s happening. I think this is the right way.”

While the WTA have since released a statement describing the booing a “misunderstanding.” The statement read: “Following the unfortunate circumstances and misunderstanding in yesterday’s match at @Wimbledon (along with other matches the past several weeks), the WTA would like to provide clarity around post-match handshakes.

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“Due to the ongoing reprehensible war, the WTA respects the position of the Ukrainian athletes in foregoing the tradition of shaking opponents’ hands (from Russia and Belarus) at the end of a match, as this is a personal decision. We have some of the best fans in the world and are grateful for their passion and dedication, and we thank them for their understanding and respect for the athletes.”

However, Wimbledon and the All England Club have already confirmed that they will turn down requests to clarify Svitolina not shaking hands with a potential Russian or Belarussian finalist on Saturday, but whether that will change among mounting pressure remains to be seen.

“We’ve no intention of doing that,” Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton said Monday. “Historically in tennis the decision on how a player reacts at the end of a match is entirely a personal decision for them and I think we don’t really want to start mandating what happens,” Bolton said. “We have an incredibly knowledgeable audience at Wimbledon and I think in the most part they would understand what was going on. I wouldn’t want to speculate on what everybody in the crowd was thinking last night.”

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