At Roland Garros,
It was a special first round. Chance had it that the Belarusian world number two faced the Ukrainian. At the US Open against another Belarusian, former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka, the 39th player in the world refused to greet her opponent at the end of their match, contenting herself with touching her racket, in protest.
This Sunday Porte d’Auteuil, there was no look or gesture to his opponent. Which resulted in boos from the audience at this point, then as they exited the court. And a misunderstanding. “I thought at first that the bronca was for me”, explained the world number 2 during the interview after the match, on the court. “I was a bit surprised, but afterwards I felt your support. So thank you very much, it’s very important. It was a very tough game emotionally.”
Marta Kostyuk is one of the players who is very critical of the response, too soft for her taste, given by world tennis authorities to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “I try not to think about these negative things, explained Sabalenka. It doesn’t concern me in the end. It doesn’t matter if she hates me. I can not do anything about it. There will always be people who love me and hate me. If she hates me, it’s not reciprocated. Sabalenka had repeated in a press conference that if she could “put an end to the war, [she] will [t]”, while affirming that “sport should not be politicized”. “We are just athletes. If it suits them not to shake my hand, so be it. »
But the Ukrainian Kostyuk does not think the same. “At the beginning, we planned not to go on the court when we would face Russian or Belarusian players, and we hoped that the others would follow, she confided to L’Equipe. The Poles, the Czechs… But we didn’t. We are girls, we have no balls. Silence and ignorance, as the only acts of resistance…
