Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina remained defiant right to the end of a French Open run which finished with one last refusal of a handshake at the net.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus waited for it, but received not the faintest acknowledgement after making it through to the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.
What happened after the match turned out to be more interesting than anything which had preceded it. Svitolina, booed off by some sections of the crowd, suggested that her opponent had stood there deliberately to highlight her longstanding refusal of pleasantries with players from Russia and Belarus.
Sabalenka, turning up at an open press conference for the first time since the second round, then created a stir by declaring that she is not only against the war, but also Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko.
‘I don’t support war, meaning I don’t support Lukashenko right now,’ she said, counteracting the impression of them having a cordial relationship.
Elina Svitolina snubbed Aryna Sabalenka (at the net) in her final gesture of defiance at this year’s French Open
The No 2 seed breezed past the World No 192 in a 6-4, 6-4 victory to book her semi-final spot
The 28-year-old was the last Ukrainian player left in the singles draw in Paris on Tuesday
World No 192 Svitolina, the last Ukrainian left in the singles, had by then suggested that the end-of-match situation had been purposefully inflamed by Sabalenka standing at the net in the middle of the court.
‘I think so, unfortunately,’ she said. ‘My initial reaction was like, what are you doing? Because in all my press conferences I made my position clear. I made multiple statements that I’m not shaking hands. So it’s quite simple.’
Sabalenka denied that she had been stirring things up. ‘It just was an instinct like I always do after all my matches,’ she said. She then explained how she had come to be seen on many occasions with her nation’s brutal dictator. ‘We played a lot of Billie Jean King Cup matches in Belarus. He was in our matches taking pictures with us after the match. Nothing bad was happening at that time in Belarus or in Ukraine or in Russia.
‘I said it many times already, I’m not supporting war. I don’t want my country to be involved in any conflict. I don’t want sport to be involved in politics, because I’m just a tennis player.’
The Ukrainian (left) accused her opponent of inflaming tensions, which Sabalenka denied
Sabalenka could meet either Coco Gauff (left) or defending champion Iga Swiatek in the final, with the players meeting in a re-run of last year’s decider on Wednesday
The Belarusian will be the favourite to make Saturday’s final when she tackles the unseeded Czech, Karolina Muchova. Her likely eventual opponent will be defending champion Iga Swiatek, who on Wednesday takes on Coco Gauff in a repeat of last year’s championship match.
Tennis will finally get the match it has wanted all season when Carlos Alcaraz meets Novak Djokovic in a colossal semi-final on Friday.
The two have not met for more than a year, but set up the clash last night when the 20 year-old Spaniard demolished fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2 6-1 7-6 in the last eight.
Earlier Djokovic had survived a stiff challenge from strapping Russian Karen Khachanov to win 4-6 7-6 6-2 6-4.
Novak Djokovic will face Carlos Alcaraz in a long-awaited blockbuster clash in the semi-finals
The promising Spaniard performed a three-set rout on Stefanos Tsitsipas in their quarter-final
Due to a combination of injuries and Djokovic’s ban from the US the duo have only been in the same field once this year. The only time they have previously met at all was at the 2022 Madrid Open, when the Spaniard won in three sets.
Alcaraz was in total command at 5-2 in the third set and playing at his best level before tightening up a little. He required six match points before closing out the tiebreak 7-5.
‘Playing here is amazing, and this match everyone wants to watch it. I think it will be really good to play and to watch. If you want to be the best you have to beat the best,’ said Alcaraz.
At the Lexus Challenger in Surbiton, 16-year-old qualifier Isabelle Lacy took the surprise scalp of world No 95 Madison Brengle with a 7-6, 5-7, 6-1 win, the best result to date for the national Under 18 champion.
