Daria Kasatkina “leaves Paris with a bitter feeling”. Out in the round of 16 (6-4, 7-6 [5]) by Elina Svitolina, the Russian player was whistled when she left the Suzanne-Lenglen court on Sunday evening. “After each match, I always thanked the public for their support and for being there for the players. But yesterday I was whistled as I was respectful of my opponent’s decision not to shake hands (at the end of the game) »explains Kasatkina on Twitter.
After the match, the two players exchanged a sign while returning to their bench. Svitolina, the wife of Gaël Monfils, is back in Grand Slam after giving birth to her daughter Skaï in October.
The native of Odessa refuses to shake hands with her Russian opponents, the country behind the invasion of Ukraine since February 2022, and Belarus, Moscow’s main support in this war. But Kasatkina has already expressed her opposition to the war and publicly assumed her homosexuality as Russian MPs presented a law notably banning all LGBTQ + content in the cinema.
“Leaving the court like that was the worst part of the day. Be better, love each other. Do not spread hate”Kasatkina intimated to the public before specifying that she “would still like Roland-Garros”. After taking out the 9th player in the world, Svitolina will face Aryna Sabalenka, seeded number 2 and Belarusian player for a place in the semi-finals.