Elina Svitolina will face Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka in the last 16 at Wimbledon and the Ukrainian said the match will be special for her as she is very motivated because of the war in Ukraine.

Elina SvitolinaPhoto: Julio Cesar AGUILAR / AFP / Profimedia

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Elina Svitolina about the match with Victoria Azarenka: “Many Ukrainians will follow me”

For Svitolina (former WTA No. 3), matches against players from countries that support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are “different.”

“I play for my country in every match I play and this one will be even more special. Many Ukrainians will follow me and support me. I will go out on the field and really fight for every point. I just try to take it as a big motivation” – Elina Svitolinaquoted by News.ro.

Like other Ukrainian players, Svitolina (28) has not shaken hands with rivals from Belarus or Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Elina was booed at the end of her Roland Garros quarter-final against Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenko last month, and her opponent was accused of inciting the fans to react by waiting at the net for a handshake.

“There was certainly a lot of misunderstanding in Paris, because in Strasbourg (at the previous tournament) everyone understood my position as well, so I hope that the same understanding will be in some way from the British public” – Elina Svitolina.

Azarenka (33 years old, two-time Grand Slam winner) has won all five previous meetings. She, along with other players from Russia and Belarus, were banned from Wimbledon last year, but have been allowed to return this year if they do not show support for or receive funding from their regimes.

Svitolina became a mother in October and never expected to achieve such success at the All England Club. Elina had tickets to Harry Styles’ concert in Vienna on Sunday, but wrote on social media that “Wimbledon changed her plans.”

Know:

  • The match will take place on Sunday on Court 1 after two other singles matches. The games start at 15:00.
  • The winner of Svitolina and Azarenka will play in the quarters against the winner of the match Iga Sviatek (1st favorite) – Belinda Bencic (14).