The Ukrainian Tennis Federation and Father Kotlyar called the handshake with Mincheva a mistake

The Ukrainian Tennis Federation and the father of Ukrainian tennis player Elizaveta Kotlyar said that the athlete shook hands with Russian Vlada Mincheva at the junior Australian Open by mistake. Konstantin Kotlyar said that the tennis player “performed this post-match ritual automatically” and regrets it.

The Ukrainian Tennis Federation said it supports “the general position of Ukrainian tennis players to refuse handshakes with representatives of Russia and Belarus.” “But there can always be mistakes, which happened today with Kotlyar,” the federation said in a message on Facebook (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation).

Konstantin Kotlyar, in a statement cited by the federation, noted that his daughter “has no experience of performing at such large tournaments” and the atmosphere “has a lot of pressure.” “She did this post-match ritual automatically. It was a mistake that Lisa deeply regrets and will never allow herself to make again,” the statement says.

Mincheva and Kotlyar shook hands after the first round of the junior Australian Open. The match ended with a score of 6:2, 6:4 in favor of the Russian.

Ukrainian athletes have repeatedly refused to shake hands with Russian opponents. In particular, in April 2023, Ukrainian tennis player Angelina Kalinina didn’t shake hand to Russian Anna Kalinskaya after a match at the Charleston Open. In July, Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan refused from a handshake after a fight with Russian Anna Smirnova, which is why she was disqualified. Ukrainian Chess Federation recommended Do not shake hands with Russian athletes.

Leonid Uvarchev