On January 20, 16-year-old Ukrainian tennis player Yelizaveta Kotlyar failed to make a successful start to the Australian Open Youth Championship.
Publika.az reports that the young Ukrainian lost to the 15th-ranked Russian Vlada Mincheva in the first round with a score of 2:6, 4:6.
After the meeting, Kotlyar decided to shake hands with the Russian.
This act of his caused the anger of many Ukrainian fans. The Ukrainian Tennis Federation released a statement about this incident with the comment of Kotlyar’s father.
“The following should be reported regarding the unpleasant incident that took place in the Australian Open junior tournament game with the participation of our best teenager Elizaveta Kotlyar.
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation supports the general position of Ukrainian tennis players not to shake hands with representatives of aggressive countries. Our leading players know this and support this position. But there can always be mistakes. This mistake happened to our tennis player today
Yelizaveta Kotlyar is still a minor, so we reached out to her father, Konstantin, for comment on the incident that allowed Russian propaganda to begin its dirty work.
“I would like to speak on behalf of myself and my daughter Lisa Kotlyar at the Australian Open when she shook hands with her opponent from the aggressor country Russia at the end of the match. All I have to say is not an excuse, but an attempt to explain why this happened.
Lisa is only 16 years old and has no experience of competing in major tournaments such as Grand Slams, the pinnacle of tennis, both professional and junior. An unusual atmosphere reigns here, which in itself puts a lot of pressure on the athletes. Early in your career, it’s hard to handle that and not be nervous.
Unfortunately, my daughter did not feel calm, her emotions were too much, so she could not fully control her behavior. He automatically performed the post-match ritual – he shook his opponent’s hand, not realizing that behind the net was the representative of the country that attacked our homeland. It was definitely a mistake Lisa regretted and made sure she wouldn’t do it again. Always remember who is who. In fact, he is a sincere patriot of Ukraine, always has been and will remain so,” said Konstantin Kotlyar.
