Following her loss in the semi-finals of the esteemed Wimbledon competition, Elina Svitolina, a prominent player, dismissed a question regarding Princess Kate during her press conference.
Svitolina’s impressive run in the tournament came to an end when she was defeated by Marketa Vondroušová with a score of 6-3 6-3. It is worth noting that Svitolina has previously declined to shake hands with players from Russia and Belarus in other tournaments, including the ongoing Wimbledon.
Notably, Princess Kate has held the role of patron for the All England Club since 2016 and traditionally presents the trophies to the winners at the conclusion of the tournament.
Aryna Sabalenka, a tennis player from Belarus, participated in the other semi-final match on Thursday.
During a press conference, Svitolina was asked about her thoughts on the possibility of Princess Kate presenting the prestigious Venus Rosewater Dish to a player from a country that is currently allied with Russia in the ongoing Ukraine conflict.
Svitolina responded by saying that she had not given any consideration to this matter and was not in a suitable mental state to respond to the question at that moment.
She further expressed her disappointment in not being able to play and receive the trophy from Princess Kate.
However, it is worth noting that Princess Kate will not be presenting the trophy to Sabalenka as she was defeated by Ons Jabeur in the other semi-final match, with a score of 6-7 6-4 6-3. In the previous year, the Princess of Wales faced an uncomfortable situation when a Russian-born athlete, Elena Rybakina, emerged as the winner of the Wimbledon Women’s final.
Kate presented the Wimbledon trophy to Rybakina after she defeated Ons Jabeur with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Rybakina, originally born in Moscow, changed her nationality from Russia to Kazakhstan in 2018 and has been representing Kazakhstan since then.
Due to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian athletes were prohibited from participating in Wimbledon.
This decision by Wimbledon had the consequence of the tournament losing its authority to award ranking points to players.
Notably, Rybakina achieved a significant milestone for Kazakhstan by becoming the country’s first player to secure a major singles title.
