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A junior tennis player from Ukraine is in hot water with the nation’s tennis federation after shaking hands with a Russian player during her Australian Open girl’s singles match.

Yelyzaveta Kotliar, a 16-year-old player from Ukraine, went down 6-2, 6-4 to Vlada Mincheva of Russia in the opening round of the junior competition on Tuesday.

At the conclusion of proceedings, Kotliar walked to the net and shook hands with her opponent, but that has not sat well with her fellow countrywomen and men.

Players from Russia and Ukraine have not shaken hands since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, and it has become a type of official protest for players from the war-torn country.

Kotliar apologised for what she called an unintentional error but reports online suggest the Ukrainian Ministry of Youth and Sports reportedly rejected Kotliar’s explanation and confirmed it will investigate while the Ukrainian Tennis Federation described the moment as an “unpleasant incident”.

The teenager’s father, Konstantin Kotliar, said his daughter’s actions were a mistake.

“The atmosphere here is extraordinary, which in itself puts a lot of pressure on the athletes,” he said in a statement released by the UTF.

“At the beginning of your career, it’s hard to cope with this and not be nervous. Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t feel calm, her emotions were running high, so she wasn’t completely in control of her behaviour.

“She automatically performed the post-match ritual, not realising that behind the net there was a representative of the country who launched the attack on our homeland.

“It was definitely a mistake that Liza regrets and assures us that she will never allow anything like that to happen again.”

Earlier in the tournament, Ukraine player Lesla Tsurenko spoke of the handshake snub and how it has become partt of the fight against Russia. for players.

“It is a national position. I think if you want I can try to explain to you how it feels, but it is probably tough to explain if you are not part of the country that is in the war right now,” Tsurenko said in Melbourne

“This is another reminder that there is a war in my country. If you can just imagine (being) in my place or any other Ukrainian you would not have this question.

“This is the right thing to do and I do this for Ukraine.”