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There was a controversial moment during the junior tennis tournament of the 2024 Australian Open when Yelyzaveta Kotliar, a 16-year-old from Ukraine, shook hands with her opponent Vlada Mincheva, a 16-year-old from Russia, after their match.
Ever since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, players from the latter country have unanimously decided not to shake hands with Russian opponents. Many prominent Ukrainian tennis stars like Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, and Lesia Tsurenko have followed this practice.
However, Yelyzaveta Kotliar broke the pattern when she shook hands with her Russian opponent Vlada Mincheva after she lost her opening-round junior girls' match to her 6-2, 6-4. Kotliar's action drew flak from the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Ukraine, who did not accept her claim that it was an innocent mistake.
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The ministry recently published its full statement on the incident. Officials contacted Yelyzaveta Kotliar's father, Konstantin Kotliar, to get a full account of what had happened.
In his statement, Konstantin Kotliar explained that his daughter had never experienced the atmosphere of a Grand Slam before and was overwhelmed by the occasion. He claimed she did not realize that her opponent was from 'the aggressor country' and went ahead with the 'post-match ritual'.
You can read Konstantin Kotliar's statement below:
The entire ordeal did not sit well with tennis fans, who expressed their displeasure with the Ukraine Tennis Federation's response to Yelyzaveta Kotliar's handshake on social media. Fans slammed the UTF for criticizing a 16-year-old and exaggerating a minor issue.
"Bruh shit's crazy she is 16 idiots," one fan wrote.
"This statement is more likely to be used as pro-Russian propaganda than any handshake at the net," another fan commented on Reddit.
"The irony is no one gives a fuck about this from either side. The world, including both Russia and Ukraine is not watching juniors tennis. In fact what’s going to cause Russian propaganda to turn is that damn post giving it attention," a fan wrote.
"She's 16 ffs leave her alone, what's wrong with people..." wrote another fan.
"I feel so sad for both 16 year olds. How dare these adults drag them into geopolitics. Completely outrageous," stated one fan.
Here are some more fan reactions to the Ukraine Tennis Federation's response to Yelyzaveta Kotliar's handshake:
A look at the Ukrainian tennis stars' performance at 2024 Australian Open
Top Ukrainian tennis players had a good showing at the 2024 Australian Open. In women's singles, three players from the nation progressed to the fourth round for the first time in tennis history.
Seven female players competed in the women's singles draw, and Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, and Dayana Yastremska created history by qualifying for the fourth round.
Out of the trio, Kostyuk and Yastremska won their fourth-round matches and the latter is still alive in the competition. Dayana Yastermska, a qualifier, defeated Linda Noskova in the quarterfinals to book her place in the last four in Melbourne. She will face either Anna Kalinskaya or Qinwen Zheng in the semifinals.
In the women's doubles category, Lyudmyla Kichenok is waving the Ukrainian flag and has qualified for the semifinals. She and her doubles partner, Jelena Ostapenko, will face off against reigning US Open champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe for a place in the title contest.
