16-year-old Ukrainian tennis player under fire for handshake with Russian in Australian Open match as case opened by Sports Ministry

WTA
Monday, 22 January 2024 at 12:35
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16-year-old Ukrainian, Yelyzaveta Kotliar has found herself embroiled in controversy after shaking hands with Russia's Vlada Mincheva during her girls singles match at the 2024 Australian Open in which the former lost 2-6, 4-6 in an hour and 1``0 minutes.
After the match, she went up to Mincheva and shook hands with her. This was a shock given that a boycott has taken place on handshakes between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players with Ukrainians starting the tradition to show solidarity with those fighting back home on the frontline in the war.
According to reports, a case has been opened against her by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Ukraine who did not buy her claim that it was an innocent mistake and will be looking into the matter further. Watch the video below.

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