Mirra Andreeva booed off court after Australian Open loss as tennis fans fume | Tennis | Sport
Mirra Andreeva was jeered by fans at the Australian Open after walking straight off the court following her defeat to Elina Svitolina, but she has been defended online. The young Russian was outclassed in a one-sided affair on Rod Laver Arena, with her Ukrainian rival easing to a 6-2 6-4 victory. Her reward will be a meeting with reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals.
Andreeva went into the match as the slight favourite, owing to her higher position in the WTA rankings, but was unable to prevent Svitolina from cruising through with relative ease. The contest ended on a sour note, with fans booing the 18-year-old as she made her way off the court. She didn’t approach the net for a handshake with Svitolina, instead walking straight down the tunnel.
This decision appeared to irk the fans inside Rod Laver Arena, who showed their displeasure by booing and jeering. However, there seemed to be a collective misunderstanding, with many of those in attendance unaware that a lack of pleasantries was to be expected.
Since the start of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine four years ago, players from the two countries have widely refused to shake hands with each other following matches.
Svitolina is among the players to have snubbed handshakes with rivals from Russia since the start of the war. The unwritten rule has also been to players from Belarus because of the country’s support for Russian military action. Several fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to defend Andreeva against the jeers.
Tensions may have also been inflamed by Andreeva’s insistence that she won’t change her nationality amid the wave of Russian players switching citizenship.
The likes of Daria Kasatkina and Anastasia Potapova have taken up different nationalities since the outbreak of war, choosing to represent Australia and Austria respectively.
Varvara Gracheva is another player to have turned her back on Russia, with the 25-year-old now playing under the French banner. Andreeva, however, has no desire to follow in their footsteps.
Quizzed on the topic last month, she said: “Well, I didn’t even think about it. I heard and saw, like Daria Kasatkina, she changed her citizenship.
“A lot of players changed. But for now, I’m just going to play like this. I didn’t have any offers or anything. So for now, it’s just going to be like this.”
Russian players have been forced to compete under a neutral flag because of the war in Ukraine, something Andreeva hasn’t been thinking about too much.
“No, for me, it doesn’t add any pressure,” she added. “I’m just doing my thing on the court. I focus on how to get better, how to improve as a tennis player, so it doesn’t add any pressure.”
