Aryna Sabalenko showed the best performance of her career at “Roland Garros” and reached the semifinals, beating Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian ignored Sabalenka at the gate, and the fans present at the Arena, Philippe Chatrier, “charged” Svitolina.

Elina Svitolina said that Arina Sabalenko deliberately wanted to ignite the mood at the Roland Garros match

Svitolina says this year’s Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenko continues to be criticized by Ukrainian players after yet another moment when she wowed the crowd at Roland Garros.

Ukraine’s most decorated player was at the center of a tense moment after her loss to Aryna Sabalenko, as the Belarusian waited at the net to shake Svitolina’s hand.

Apparently, the Ukrainian did not pay attention to her and went to greet the referee’s chair, and when Svitolina left the court, she was booed by fans present at the Philippe Chatrier arena in Paris.

Elina Svitolina completely ignored Sabalenka at the end of the match and accused her of stoking the mood when she decided to wait for her at the gate.

“It was a big match but I gave it my all because I had nothing to lose. It was an uphill battle, it just didn’t work for me.

My first reaction when I saw him sitting by the net was, what are you doing!? I’m not sure what she expected because my statements have always been very clear about handshakes.

Maybe she’s not on social media and doesn’t know what I said. But I was always clear, I said that I would not shake their hands. Yes, I think he wanted to escalate the situation with what he did. I expected to be booed.

Whoever loses in this situation gets a whistle. It was not a surprise for me.” – said Elina Svitolina.

At the same time, Elina Svitolina made a retrospective of last month in the WTA tournament, and also commented on Aryna Sabalenko’s decision not to participate in press conferences at Roland Garros, in the context of the war that Russia unleashed in Ukraine.

“It’s been a very good week for me, I won the title in Strasbourg, I went far and here I didn’t expect it. I’m happy with how I found my game. Physically, I need to improve.

I have to be able to fight because I haven’t been able to get my hands on a rocket for months. Everything has to start from scratch. We showed a good level both here and in Strasbourg, this is a positive situation.

Not talking to the press… I think everyone should be treated equally. Last time, Naomi Osaka was fined for not talking to the media, and now there is no fine. It should be equal for everyone.

I had a lot of questions, I was talking about what Novak said about Kosovo. I’m not trying to win people over by hiding my position on all these things.” – concluded Svitolina.