Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk drew the ire of the Roland-Garros crowd when she refused to shake the hand of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka at the end of their first round match.
Having just lost 6-3, 6-2, Kostyuk walked to the umpire’s tower and shook their hand, and didn’t so much as make eye-contact with Sabalenka.
She had earlier refused the usual pre-match photo at the net.
READ MORE: ‘Joke’: British star punished for Roland-Garros outburst
READ MORE: Last lap pass seals emotional first Indy 500 win
READ MORE: Verstappen breaks Red Bull record in Monaco
“I have to say, I didn’t expect it. … People should be, honestly, embarrassed,” Kostyuk said of the booing.
Earlier in the day, at least one person was killed when Kyiv was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of the war.
“It’s something I cannot describe, probably. I try to put my emotions aside any time I go out on court. I think I’m better than before, and I don’t think it affects me as much on a daily basis, but yeah, it’s just — I don’t know,” Kostyuk said, shaking her head. “There is not much to say, really. It’s just part of my life.”
Initially, Sabalenka — who had approached the net as if anticipating some sort of exchange with Kostyuk — thought the noise was directed at her.
“At first, I thought they were booing me,” Sabalenka said. “I was a little confused, and I was, like, ‘OK, what should I do?”
Sabalenka tried to ask the chair umpire what was going on. She looked up at her entourage in the stands too. Then she realised that while she was aware Kostyuk and other Ukrainian tennis players have been declining to greet opponents from Russia or Belarus after a match, the spectators might not have known — and so responded in a way Sabalenka didn’t think was deserved.
Watch Roland-Garros 2023 live and free on 9now.
“They saw it,” she surmised, “as disrespect (for) me.”
Sabalenka said preparation for her first-round match was “emotionally tough”.
“You’re playing against (a) Ukrainian and you never know what’s going to happen. You never know how people will — will they support you or not?” Sabalenka said.
“I was worried, like, people will be against me, and I don’t like to play when people (are) so much against me.”
“Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody — normal people — will never support it. Why (do) we have to go loud and say that things? This is like: ‘One plus one (is) two.’ Of course we don’t support war,” Sabalenka added.
“If it could affect anyhow the war, if it could like stop it, we would do it. But unfortunately, it’s not in our hands.”
Watch every match of Roland-Garros 2023 ad free and on demand. Centre court coverage in 4K UHD on Stan Sport
Kokkinakis breezes through Roland-Garros opener
When a portion of those comments was read to Kostyuk by a reporter, she responded in calm, measured tones that she doesn’t get why Sabalenka does not come out and say that “she personally doesn’t support this war.”
“To reject her responsibility of having an opinion on the most important things in the world, I cannot respect that. She said I hate her. I never said I hate her, I just don’t respect her.”
Kostyuk also rejected the notion that players from Russia or Belarus could be in a tough spot upon returning to those countries if they were to speak out about what is happening in Ukraine.
“I don’t know why it’s a difficult situation,” Kostyuk said with a chuckle.
“I don’t know what other players are afraid of,” she said. “I go back to Ukraine, where I can die any second from drones or missiles or whatever it is.”
— with Damien McCartney
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
The top 20 all-time women’s tennis prize money winners
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
