“It started, with the Ukrainian government, that went to meetings with the Russian government," she previously said. "They were against shaking hands because they're not sharing the same values, obviously, and what it's doing, what the Russians doing to our country."

Only days ago, Svitolina had praised the French crowd for making her feel like an 'honorary Frenchwoman' after attracting supporters for her matches in Paris.

“I cannot be more thankful for all your support,” she advised the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd in an emotional post-match interview on Sunday. “Now I can feel what Gael was experiencing for all these years and I’m really thankful for all the French people to support me so much.”

Sabalenka will face Karolina Muchova within the semi-final on Thursday after the Czech defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight units.