Ukraine star Lesia Tsurenko’s powerful response after handshake drama

A Ukrainian tennis star had a powerful message for trolls that hammered her with vile abuse over a handshake snub.

Sabalenka gets snubbed by Tsurenko at Melbourne Park.

Ukrainian star Lesia Tsurenko has responded to the vile abuse she has been copping online with an emotional, devastating post on social media.

Tsurenko lost 6-0 6-0 to defending champion and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open third round on Friday.

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As the players walked towards the net after the final point, Tsurenko raised her hand to show she would not shake hands, which Sabalenka acknowledged with a raised hand of her own.

Both players then shook hands with the chair umpire.

Later on Friday, Tsurenko called the move a “national position” against athletes from Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.

The handshake refusal wasn’t received well by some, who took to social media to abuse the 34-year-old Ukrainian veteran.

Following what had clearly been a difficult 24 hours for Tsurenko, a four-time winner on the WTA Tour, she posted this heartfelt message on Instagram from Melbourne Airport.

Sabalenka (left) gets snubbed by Tsurenko at Melbourne Park.

“I noticed that my loss yesterday made a lot of people happy. So my new post is for you,” she wrote to her 70,000 followers.

“Please feel free to express whatever you want to me. I hope this will make you happy for a little bit longer.

“But you know, on the eve of the new year, my friend returned from Russian captivity after 1.5 years. Lost 55 kilograms of body weight and with an infection in his legs, but the main thing is that he is alive. This is real happiness.

“So I hope that you will also have real reasons to feel happy in your life and not because of the loss of some random tennis player whom you have never even met in your life.”

The powerful post has had almost 6,500 likes and over 700 comments to date.

Predictably, some lowlifes opted to continue the abuse, with comments like “grow up little girl” and “play the victim card, you got thrashed”.

Lesia Tsurenko (left) turns away after refusing to shake Sabalenka’s hand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

But there were many, many more messages of encouragement.

“You are amazing! Keep fighting, Ukraine supports you,” was one reply.

“Wonderful response, you are truly strong and amazing!” wrote another.

“You have many admirers; ignore the haters! Long live Ukraine,” added a third.

Tsurenko and Sabalenka have history, with the Ukrainian withdrawing from their scheduled third-round clash at Indian Wells last year.

“The reason for the refusal was a panic attack,” Tsurenko revealed later.

“Officially, it will be written as ‘personal reasons’, but in fact it was breathing problems and, one might say, hysteria.”

Tsurenko went on to explain it had all been brought on by a conversation with WTA chief executive Steve Simon.

“He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if players from Russia and Belarus support it, it is only their own opinion, and the opinion of other people should not upset me.”

That led Tsurenko and other Ukrainian players to question Simon’s position.

The WTA responded with a statement that read in part: “We are witnessing an ongoing horrific war that continues to bring unforeseen circumstances with far reaching consequences that are affecting the world, as well as the global WTA Tour and its members.

“The WTA has consistently reflected our full support for Ukraine and strongly condemn the actions that have been brought forth by the Russian Government.

“With this, a fundamental principle of the WTA remains, which is ensuring that individual athletes may participate in professional tennis events based on merit and without any form of discrimination and not penalised due to the decisions made by the leadership of their country.”