Tension will be brewing at the French Open on Tuesday when Elina Svitolina faces Aryna Sabalenka in front of a notoriously fickle Roland Garros crowd in the most electrifying sporting clash since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Ukraine’s Svitolina has been refusing to shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus (who has been a key staging ground for what Moscow calls a ‘special military operation’), while Belarusian Sabalenka has been in the eye of the storm for snubbing the media after being grilled about the war.

Sabalenka is aiming for the world No.1 spot in Paris but she has a mountain to climb in the form of Svitolina, who will have the full backing of the raucous, sometimes brutal Roland Garros crowd.

Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka. File photo

Svitolina, playing her first grand slam since becoming a mother eight months ago, is the partner of Gael Monfils, one of the French fans’ most beloved player, which makes her, in her own words, the ‘last French player standing’.

The former world No.3 was fully supported by the fans in her fourth-round win against Russian Kasatkina, who was booed at the end of the match although she has spoken out against the war, calling it a ‘full nightmare’.