(VIDEO) Elina Svitolina refuses to shake Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya's hand after defeat in Qatar Open amid ongoing Ukraine war
WTAThursday, 12 February 2026 at 16:52
Elina Svitolina has made a trend of not shaking Russian players hands amid the ongoing war in her home country of Ukraine. She kept that up in the Qatar Open after losing in the last-16 of the first WTA 1000 event of the year to Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
The seventh seed has started 2026 off with a bang, already with a title under belt while climbing back into the top 10 thanks to a stunning run at the Australian Open. Despite this, a lot of the headlines surrounding the 31-year-old have been due to her action at the end of matches, not shaking some of her oppositions hands due to the war.
This was a guarantee against Kalinskaya. Svitolina got to the last-16 after taking down fellow Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in straight sets but would not be able to repeat the events against Kalinskaya. A single break was enough for Kalinskaya to take the first set before sprinting away at the end to secure a spot in the quarter-finals.
At the end of the match, Svitolina made no attempt in going over and shaking her opponent's hand as she thanked the umpire before packing her things and leaving the court and tournament for another year.
Svitolina continues to refuse to shake hands with Russian players
Since the start of the war, Svitolina has been true with this this, not shaking Russian or Belarusian tennis players hands at the end of the match. It was brought up a number of occasions at the Australian Open enroute to the semi-finals.
She defeated Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva in back to back wins before taking on the world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final. She did not take a picture with the Belarusian before the match, with fans now aware that she would not be embracing at the net after confusion in her prior matches. There was even an announcement before the end of the match to confirm to the fans about this neutral agreement after Andreeva was met by a chorus of boos after respectively going straight to the umpire and leaving without even thinking about shaking Svitolina's hand.
Elina Svitolina in action
With the war continuing, there seems to be no end in sight yet to this. Russian and Belarusian players are feeling the effects from this, not being able to compete in the Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup or United Cup. Many other Ukrainian players also regularly embrace this, not embracing at the end of contests.
Next up for Svitolina is the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the second WTA 1000 tournament of the year closely following from the event in Qatar where a stacked field of the best tennis players in the world continue to battle on court.
claps 0visitors 0
Just In
Popular News
Latest Comments
- The women could barely play the best 2 out of 3 sets. Yet, they are always complaining about equal prize money. Equal pay means Equal work.
- What a dump!!
- Someone tell those two bored, jobless people that PRO-TENNIS IS NOT YOUR PERSONAL F'ING TOY !!!
- Hopefully, she does not come back.
- Sure she sees her tennis as a job now, thanks to her groomer
- Eala beat Havlichova, a Czech, in 2022 US OPEN Juniors
- A certain sponsor-laden British girl could use his mental help.
- Causing a serious player to lose her spot is unfair and unwanted. Pathetic is all one can say anymore.
- Big talk coming from someone who can barely roll herself out of bed each day.
- In all fairness, people should stop lifting Emma up so high on their imaginary pedestals. There is no shame in being a Top 30 or Top 25 player; Masters wins or not. On the other hand, Emma cannot keep a coach and/or trainer. Instead she offers what seems like psychobabble reasoning/excuses for each firing in her team. Place the hype and pretense on the shelf. If she is competitive from time to time sponsors are likely to hang-in there with Emma. But enough is enough in the 'make her what she is not' department.
Loading
