Weeks after Wimbledon fans booed Victoria Azarenka during her fourth round loss to Elina Svitolina, the sequel at the DC Open featured a notable addition – a warning to the crowd that there would be no meeting at the net between the pair after the match. Ukrainian star Svitolina – winner over Azarenka at both Wimbledon and Washington, declined to shake the hand of her Belarusian opponent in light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been endorsed by Belarus.
The All-England club had booed Azarenka throughout the clash with Svitolina, a situation the organisers of the DC Open were clearly aware of heading into…