(VIDEO) Elina Svitolina refuses to shake hands with Elina Avanesyan despite recent nationality change to Armenian
WTA
Elina Svitolina showed that even if the nationality changes, the thought process remains the same as she opened her account at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey. She refused to shake hands with vanquished opponent Elina Avanesyan.
Svitolina sealed a 6-4, 6-3 win in Mexico where she is fifth seed against Avanesyan who has been a real rising star on the tour over the past season. But she decided to become the first Armenian player on tour due to her heritage.
She made history as the first player to seal a win for Armenia on the tour. Defeating Bianca Andreescu a few weeks ago, she now no longer represents Russia. But either Svitolina didn't get the memo or decided to keep it up no matter if she changes or not.
She drifted past the net as she sealed the win and Avanesyan seemed to get the memo beforehand as she trudged towards the net instead of rushing for a handshake. Others have made the point that she would shake hands with Elena Rybakina for instance who is Kazakh but is from Russia originally.
Also she has been condemned on social media with some saying that it only brings negative headlines to her and others say they understand it as if Putin was wearing a dress, it would still be Putin as an ideology.
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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