Svitolina had warned she wouldn't shake arms with gamers from Russia or Belarus following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine final 12 months, which it calls a ‘special military operation’.

"I don’t know, to be fair, what she was waiting for, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake," Svitolina, who was booed by the group as she walked straight to her bench after shedding the match 6-4 6-4, advised a press convention.

"I was expecting that and it was not a surprise for me," she stated of the jeers, which she additionally obtained when not shaking arms with Russia’s Daria Kasatkina within the earlier spherical.

Asked if world quantity two Sabalenka was seeking to inflame the state of affairs by standing on the internet as a substitute of additionally strolling again to her bench, Svitolina stated: "Yeah, I think so."

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"My initial reaction, was like, what are you doing? Because, in all my press conferences I made my position clear.

"Maybe she’s not on social media throughout the tournaments, however it's fairly clear. I made a number of statements that I’m not shaking arms, and he or she performed clearly Marta (Kostyuk of Ukraine) as nicely within the first spherical. So it’s fairly easy."

Sabalenka skipped her two previous press conferences after being earlier grilled on her personal stance on the war as her country is a key staging area for Russia’s operations.

The Belarusian said she did not feel safe at her press conferences and was not sanctioned by tennis authorities, which Svitolina found puzzling.

"Definitely I believe it needs to be equal for everybody. Like, for instance, why (Japan’s) Naomi (Osaka) received fined final time and this time there isn't any tremendous for the participant, who additionally skips the press convention," she said.

"So that is like, if there could be no tremendous for Naomi, perhaps it might be totally different however, you realize, it needs to be equal for each state of affairs."

In 2021, former world primary Osaka was fined $15,000 for skipping a post-match press convention on the French Open and threatened with robust sanctions by the board of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments.

The Japanese participant subsequently withdrew from the event citing psychological well being considerations and later stated she had been battling despair and anxiousness for years.