The intense tension surrounding Russian and Ukrainian stars has exploded at the Australian Open at junior level, with a teenage star in the spotlight.
16-year-old Ukrainian Yelizaveta Kotlyar is under investigation by her country for shaking hands with Russian Vlada Mencheva after their first round match.
After losing the match 6-2, 6-4, Cutler defied the unwritten rule of her Ukrainian compatriots and shook hands with her opponent.
The subject of handshakes and the uneasy coexistence between Ukrainian and Russian players competing against each other on the tennis circuit – with their countries engaged in an ongoing war – has been a major talking point at this year's tournament.
Several Ukrainian players spoke openly about the war in their country during the Open and continued to avoid handshakes after matches against Russian and Belarusian opponents.
When Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko was asked about her position on not shaking hands, she felt that the world did not want to “talk about war” and said that the position was her way of ensuring that the conversation about the events in her country continued.
“It's a patriotic position. I think if you want, I can try to explain to you what you're feeling, but maybe it's hard to explain to you if you're not part of the country that's at war now,” Tsurenko said.
“This is another reminder that there is a war in my country. If you could just imagine (being) in my place or in the place of any other Ukrainian, you would not have this question.”
“This is the right thing to do and I am doing it for Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Tennis Federation did not look into the “unpleasant incident” and said that it was a mistake on the part of the teenager.
Her father, Constantin Kotlair, spoke on his daughter's behalf to explain the situation.
He said in a statement issued by the International Tennis Federation: “The atmosphere here is unusual, and this in itself puts a lot of pressure on the athletes.”
“At the beginning of your career, it's hard to deal with this and not feel stressed. Unfortunately, my daughter wasn't feeling calm, and her emotions ran high, so she wasn't completely in control of her behavior.
“She spontaneously performed the post-match ritual, not realizing that behind the net was a representative of the country that launched the attack on our homeland.
“It was certainly a mistake which Lisa regrets and has assured us she will never allow something like this to happen again.”
9.45am: Fritz's late-night schedule farce
Taylor Fritz, who lost in the quarter-finals, renewed calls for the Australian Open to overhaul its schedule after he and Novak Djokovic started their match more than two hours after the scheduled start on Tuesday.
The American No. 1 bowed out in four tough sets to Djokovic in a match that pushed the Rod Laver Arena night session past 9 p.m.
This meant that the other men's quarter-final between Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev did not take the field until after 10:30 p.m.
Fritz said he sympathizes with Sinner and Rublev, especially the winner, who will have to face Djokovic due to an unstable sleep schedule in Friday's semifinals.
“I pray for these guys if they end up doing that (finishing late) that they can at least schedule it at that time for the rest of the tournament,” Fritz said.
“Because if you have to turn around and play in the afternoon on any of the other days, it completely messes up your sleep schedule.
“It's not easy to go out in the middle of the day in the heat and play three to five sets, especially when your body clock isn't working.”
Long delays on Tuesday once again put the spotlight on the schedule for the Australian Open, which had already ended at 3.49am in the third round between Daniil Medvedev and Emil Ruusuvuori.
“Yes, I think it's difficult,” Fritz said.
“I was talking about that with Medvedev with a group of players before, because he finished that game so late.
“It ruins your whole watch.
“In one case, I get it – matches go on for a long time some days. Like today in particular, my match was long, the match in front of us was long. But there has to be something they can do as people don't play until 2-3am.
“I don't think people really understand how much time we have to spend doing things after we're done playing, like ice baths, physical therapy, massages, all that stuff.
“If you finish work at 2 a.m., you won't have a chance to sleep until 5 or 6 a.m.”
9.10am: Is Sinner the man to take down Novak?
Jannik Sinner looked a man of maniac at the Australian Open – setting the kind of tournament that should worry 10-time champion Novak Djokovic.
The pair will face off in the semi-finals on Friday, with Djokovic's perfect 10-0 record in the Australian Open semi-finals under serious threat.
Sinner is the most popular player in tennis at the moment and has raised his game against the sport's true elite names over the past 12 months.
At just 22 years old, he is coming off the best season of his career and has reversed his miserable record against the best players in the world.
Prior to 2023, Sinner had a horrific 1-15 record against players ranked in the top five in the world. However, since then, he has won 11 matches and lost only five to truly top-level stars.
He has yet to drop a set at this year's Australian Open, with only Carlos Alcaraz spending less time on court heading into the quarterfinals.
This is reason enough for Djokovic to be concerned.
“He's probably playing the tennis of his life,” Djokovic said of Sinner after his win over Taylor Fritz on Tuesday.
He added: “He finished last season wonderfully, and we had two great matches in Turin, and in the Davis Cup as well, and the score was very close, 7-6 and 7-5 in the third set.”
“I can expect him to always play at the highest level.”
8.30am: Who will emerge from the devastating women's draw?
The seeds in the top half of the women's draw dropped, leaving only 12th seed Zeng Qinwen of China in her place.
It was pitted against Russia's Anna Kalinskaya.
The 21-year-old is inspired by compatriot Li Na's win in Australia in 2014 and was given a boost when she spoke to the retired Chinese star for the first time in person in Melbourne.
Unseeded Czech player Linda Noskova, who knocked out top seed Iga Swiatek, will face Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska in the first match on Center Court.
Yastremeska also has big scalps to her name – having beaten Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka.
8.00am: Alcaraz news headlines on Wednesday
Carlos Alcaraz will try to take the next step towards a potential shootout for the Australian Open title and top spot when he faces Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev will meet Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the men's final eight match.
Spaniard Alcaraz, ranked second in the world, has lost only one set so far at Melbourne Park, and showed glimpses of his best levels, but he will be tested against the sixth seed in a night match at Rod Laver Arena.
Zverev has won four of the pair's seven meetings, including their most recent encounter at the ATP Finals in November.
But Alcaraz (20 years old) gained confidence from his performance in Australia.
However, he knows he will be in a tough position against the German giants, who played two tough five-set matches.
Alcaraz is aiming to become the third man in the Open era to win three Grand Slam titles before the age of 21, after Bjorn Borg and Mats Wilander.
He also has a chance to replace Novak Djokovic as world No. 1.
Originally published as Australian Open Day 11: Live scores, and all the latest news from Melbourne Park
