French Open 2023 results: Elina Svitolina booed after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in Paris

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, who has not shaken hands with Russian opponents, was booed after walking past Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka when she waited at the net

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina accused Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka of encouraging French Open fans to boo her by waiting at the net for a handshake following their tense quarter-final.

Svitolina has not shaken hands with Russian opponents since Ukraine was invaded with support from Belarus.

Before her loss to Sabalenka, Svitolina made clear she would again avoid it.

Asked if Sabalenka inflamed the boos with her actions, Svitolina said: "I think so, unfortunately."

Sabalenka responded by saying her reaction was "an instinct".

It was a sour end to 28-year-old Svitolina's dream run at Roland Garros as Sabalenka, seeded second, kept focus to reach the semi-finals.

Svitolina, playing in her first Grand Slam since giving birth in October, lost 6-4 6-4 on the Paris clay.

"I don't know what she was waiting for, because my statements were clear enough about the handshake," Svitolina said.

On the booing, she added: "It was quite expected. Whoever in this situation loses, I guess gets booed. It was not a surprise for me."

There was a tense atmosphere in a quarter-final between two women whose nations are on opposing sides of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Sabalenka, 25, underlined why she is one of the favourites for the title and will play Karolina Muchova in the last four.

The unseeded Czech reached her first French Open semi-final with a straight-set victory over former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Sabalenka comes through tense match as Svitolina booed off

Svitolina's run to the quarter-finals has been one of the eye-catching stories of this year's tournament.

A former world number three, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd as she continues her return from having daughter Skai and surpassed her wildest expectations by reaching the last eight at her first Grand Slam event since.

That, along with the mental strain of the war back home in Ukraine, makes her achievements quite remarkable.

Even though Svitolina beat Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina in the previous round, taking on Australian Open champion Sabalenka - who could become the new world number one this week - was a different proposition.

Svitolina and Sabalenka met in the highest-profile match between two players from nations on the opposite side of Russia's war

Sabalenka has won more matches than any other player on the WTA Tour this year, having complemented her aggressive ball-striking with improved fitness and stronger resolve.

The Belarusian has also faced personal challenges in Paris, skipping her past two post-match news conferences after saying she "did not feel safe" when previously facing questions about her stance on the war.

With the political situation between the nations of the two players providing the backdrop, there was an apprehensive atmosphere as they avoided the traditional pre-match photograph.

The tension continued in a tight start to the opening set, Svitolina showing her usual doggedness to make her opponent work hard to return balls.

The first major error made by the Ukrainian came in the ninth game when she whacked a forehand long for the first break point of the match and Sabalenka pounced on a 70mph second serve to make the breakthrough.

Despite her great success, Sabalenka is prone to a wobble and a double fault at 30-30 in the second game of the second set allowed Svitolina to break for 2-0.

But Svitolina lost her serve in the next game where she produced two double faults herself.

Sabalenka's level continued to rise and was rewarded further when she broke serve at the fourth attempt in a lengthy fifth game.

More nerves crept in when she tried to serve out the match, trailing 0-30 before regaining her composure and conviction of shots to reach the quarter-finals of a third successive Grand Slam.

• Live scores, results and order of play

• Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone

Muchova still going after 'incredible' fortnight

Karolina Muchova's only previous Grand Slam semi-final appearance came at the 2021 Australian Open, where she lost to Jennifer Brady

Muchova won 7-5 6-2 to book only her second Grand Slam last-four appearance.

She edged a tense, hour-long opening set that featured five breaks of serve before winning the second comfortably.

Pavyluchenkova, who has dropped to 333 in the world after a serious knee injury last year, reached the final at Roland Garros in 2021, losing to Barbora Krejcikova.

Her hopes of repeating that run were ended by a fine display from Muchova, 26, who broke the Russian's serve five times.

"It's been an incredible two weeks and I'm just glad I'm still in the competition," Muchova said in her on-court interview.

• Releasing Keiko, the killer whale of 'Free Willy': The story of how the Hollywood icon was let back into the wild

• How to get cheap flight tickets: Martin Lewis gives us his top tips...