Victoria Azarenka releases statement after furious rant on Wimbledon crowd boos

Victoria Azarenka has spoken out for the first time since bowing out of Wimbledon to boos from the crowd following her defeat to Elina Svitolina earlier this week. The Belarusian was knocked out in the round of 16 by her Ukrainian opponent and was unceremoniously jeered by sections of the crowd at SW19 after the pair did not shake hands after the match at Svitolina’s request, and now Azarenka has had her say on the events that transpired.

The 32-year-old was beaten in a thrilling three-set match with Svitolina after losing 6-2, 4-6, 6-7 (9) on Court 1 in one of the most tense matches of the tournament.

But much of the post-match discourse was dominated by the Belarus-Ukraine war narrative, with Azarenka booed off court by members of the crowd seemingly for not shaking hands with Svitolina.

However, the Ukrainian had stated before the match she would not partake in the tradition – and Azarenka insisted she would respect her wishes. Some spectators appeared to be unaware of their verbal agreement, much to the annoyance of both players.

And now, after being jeered off court, Azarenka has spoken out after taking a few days to reflect on her eventful time in London.

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