Svitolina Rolls Into Quarters, Andreeva Booed at Australian Open

By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, January 25, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook

Elina Svitolina is making major noise at this Australian Open—and Mirra Andreeva caught an earful after Svitolina swept her.

The 12th-seeded Svitolina showed sharp return skills dismissing Andreeva 6-2, 6-4 rolling into her 14th career Grand Slam quarterfinal, including her fourth quarterfinal at Melbourne Park.

After Svitolina’s masterful 83-minute win, Andreeva—knowing that Ukrainian players won’t shake hands with Russians and Belarusians in protest of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine—shook hands with the chair umpire, walked behind the chair umpire’s seat, picked up her Wilson racquet bag and walked off the court eliciting a chorus of boos from some fans in Laver Arena. 

Some say AO organizers dropped the ball in this case by failing to notify in Rod Laver Arena—either by an announcement or message on the big screens—that many Ukrainians do not engage in handshakes with Russian and Belarusian players due to the war. Others on social media said Aussie fans should know by now of Svitolina’s stance in not shaking hands with Russians and Belarusians.

The 31-year-old Svitolina avenged her quarterfinal loss to Andreeva at Indian Wells last March. Andreeva went on to win the Indian Wells championship.

In this rematch, Svitolina shredded the eighth seed’s second serve, winning 15 of 20 second-serve points and breaking serve five times. Svitolina, who defeated Andreeva’s Olympic silver-medal winning doubles partner Diana Schnaider in round three, has not dropped a set en route to a quarterfinal clash vs. third-seeded Coco Gauff.

“It was important for me to put pressure, because if I let her to take the advantage in the rally, she can strike the ball really well, and she knows how to win matches, to win tournaments. For me it was important, yeah, just to try to take the advantage first and try to find a way, because she’s a very tricky player,” Svitolina said. “She mix up the pace, the length of the ball, so you have to adjust really quick, and you have to make these split-second decisions to either go or try to direct the ball in the right place.”

It’s the second time this month a high-profile match has ended on a controversial note Down Under.

A frosty exchange followed the final in Brisbane between Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.

Kostyuk continued Ukrainian players’ tradition of declining the post-match handshake with Belarusian and Russian players.

Sabalenka, in an apparent dig at Kostyuk’s reported comments on some stars’ higher testosterone levels, kissed both of her biceps following her 6-4, 6-3 sweep and second straight Brisbane title.

During the trophy presentation, Kostyuk didn’t cite Sabalenka’s name, instead praising the spirit and pride of her Ukrainian compatriots and the pain she feels seeing suffering in her homeland.

“I want to say a few words about Ukraine,” Kostyuk said. “I play every day with a pain in my heart. There are thousands of people who are without light and warm water right now, it’s minus 20 degrees outside right now, so it’s very, very painful to live this reality every day.

“I was incredibly moved and happy to see so many Ukrainian fans and flags here this week – Slava Ukraini.”