Yelizaveta Kotljar, a 16-year-old Ukrainian tennis player, shook hands with Russia's Vlada Mincheva, whom she later lost to at the 2024 Australian Open junior tennis championships on January 20.
The Ukrainian player lost 6:2, 6:4 in the first round. After the match, Kotljar shook hands with his opponent.
His action caused outrage among many Ukrainian fans. Due to what happened, the Ukrainian Tennis Federation also issued a statement with the commentary of Jelizaveta Kotljar's father
- writes Ukrainska Pravda .
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The sports association emphasized that it supports the common position of Ukrainian tennis players, according to which they will not shake hands with "representatives of the aggressor countries".
We have informed our players about this and they support this position. But mistakes can always happen. Such a mistake happened to our player today
- said the association.
Featured image: Rada TV, the television channel of the Ukrainian parliament
