Svitolina refused to shake hands with her Belarusian rival after the match. Video.

The famous Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina (No. 1088 in the WTA rankings) did not congratulate Aliaksandra Sasnovich (No. 47 in the WTA rankings) on her victory. The Belarusian beat our compatriot 6-4, 7-5 at the start of the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid.

The 28-year-old from Odesa broke in the second set and led 3-1, but failed to capitalise on her advantage, losing the serve. At the end of the game, Elina was winning 5-4, but her opponent took the next three games.

Immediately after the last game, Svitolina went to the umpire on the tower, shook his hand, and then went to the dressing room, ignoring her opponent.

Before that, Svitolina and Sasnovich had crossed paths on the courts three times. The score was 2-1 not in favour of the Ukrainian. For Elina, this defeat in Spain was the fourth of five matches she has played since returning to the Tour. The Ukrainian tennis player interrupted her professional career due to pregnancy.

Svitolina's next match is scheduled for the WTA 125 tournament in Saint-Malo (France).

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, on March 6, Ukraine's second seed Marta Kostiuk did not congratulate her rival, Muscovite Varvara Gracheva, after winning the ATX Open tournament in Austin, Texas. The episode happened immediately after Kostiuk's victory in the final match.

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