Venus Williams refused to shake hands with the chair umpire after her first-round loss at Wimbledon on Monday because she disagreed with a contentious call which ended the match.
Williams, playing in the women’s singles at the All England Club for a record 24th time, was hampered by an early slip in her match against Elina Svitolina on Centre Court and succumbed to defeat.
Yet the match did end in controversial circumstances. On match point, Svitolina returned Williams’ serve onto the baseline with the 43-year-old’s subsequent shot bouncing before the net – but an out call came virtually instantaneously from the line-judge.
Ukrainian star Svitolina challenged the call on hawk-eye, with the ball proved to be in. But while Williams clearly expected the point to be replayed, chair umpire Marija Cicak disagreed and awarded the point to Svitolina, thus ending the match.
Williams had a wry smile on her face before shaking hands with her opponent and then opting not to shake Cicak’s hand as is customary, instead shaking her head.
“I completely disagreed with the call,” Williams said, in her post-match press conference.
“It was just that kind of day.”
Venus Wlliams refused to shake hands with the chair umpire after her loss at Wimbledon— (Getty Images)
Speaking about the injury in the third game which derailed her chances, Williams struggled to hide her devastation.
“Grass is inherently going to be slippery,” she added. “You’re going to fall at some point. It was just bad luck for me. I started the match perfectly. I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass (laughter).
“Yeah, it’s not fun right now. I felt like I was in great form coming into this tournament, and great form in the match. It’s all very shocking at the moment.
“This is sports. I’m hitting the ball well. Hopefully I can just figure out what’s happening with me and move forward.”
Svitolina, herself returning to the tour after giving birth in October, will play 28th seed Elise Mertens from Belgium in round two.
