Svitolina reaches quarterfinals, Andreeva booed at Australian Open – Tennis Now
By Richard Pagliaro Sunday, January 25, 2026
Image source: Australian Open Facebook
Elena Svitolina caused a huge stir at this Australian Open – and Mira Andreeva I heard Svitolina’s voice as she glanced over her.
No. 12 seed Svitolina showed sharp catching skills to beat Andreeva 6-2, 6-4 to reach her 14th career Grand Slam quarter-final, including her fourth at Melbourne Park.
After Svitolina’s stunning 83-minute victory, Andreeva – knowing that Ukrainian players would not shake hands with Russians and Belarusians in protest of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine – shook hands with the referee, walked behind the referee’s chair, picked up her Wilson racket bag and walked out of the court, to a chorus of boos from some fans at Laver Arena.
Some say that AO organizers failed in this incident because they did not inform the many Ukrainians at Rod Laver Arena through announcements or messages on the big screen that they would no longer shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players because of the war. Others on social media said Australian fans should now know Svitolina’s stance on not shaking hands with Russians and Belarusians.
Svitolina, 31, avenged her quarterfinal loss to Andreeva in Indian Wells last March. Andreeva went on to win the Indian Wells championship.
In this rematch, Svitolina shredded the eighth seed’s second serve, scoring 15 of 20 second serve points and breaking serve 5 times. Svitolina beats Andreeva’s Olympic silver medal doubles partner diana schneider In the third round, did not drop a set in the quarterfinals against the third seed Coco Gough.
“It’s important for me to put pressure on because if I give her an advantage in rallies, she hits the ball well and she knows how to win games, win tournaments. It’s important for me to, yes, try to get an advantage first and find a way because she’s a very tricky player,” Svitolina said. “She has a mix of speed and length of the ball, so you have to adjust very quickly and you have to make these split-second decisions to either go or try to guide the ball to the right spot.”
It was the second time this month that a high-profile game ended in controversial fashion.
A frosty clash between the Belarusian teams following the Brisbane final Alina Sabalenka and Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
Kostyuk continued the tradition of Ukrainian players refusing to shake hands with Belarusian and Russian players after games.
Sabalenka kissed her biceps after sweeping 6-4, 6-3 to claim her second straight Brisbane title, apparently taking a dig at Kostyuk’s reported comments that some stars have high testosterone levels.
During the award ceremony, Kostyuk did not mention Sabalenka’s name, but instead praised the spirit and pride of her fellow Ukrainians and the pain she felt seeing her homeland suffer.
“I would like to say a few words about Ukraine,” Kostyuk said. “I play with the pain in my heart every day. There are thousands of people now without light and hot water, and it’s minus 20 degrees outside right now, so it’s very, very painful to live with this reality every day.”
“I am very touched and happy to see so many Ukrainian fans and flags here this week – Slava Ukraini.”
