Ukrainian tennis player refuses handshake with Belarusian opponent after loss
Jenny Goldsberry
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Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk was met with booing on Sunday when she refused to shake the hand of her Belarusian opponent.
Aryna Sabalenka beat Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 in 71 minutes, helping her to advance to the French Open’s second round. Kostyuk had proclaimed from the start that she wouldn’t shake hands with any Russian or Belarusian opponents in light of last year’s invasion into her home country of Ukraine.
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Still, the crowd showed its disapproval by shouting her down when she turned her back to Sabalenka.
“It was a very tough match, I mean tough emotionally. I’m sorry guys, I didn’t get it at first; I thought this booing was against me, so I was a little surprised,” Sabalenka said to reporters after the match. “But then I felt your support, so thank you so much.”
Sabalenka previously won the Australian Open, while Kostyuk took the WTA Tour title at the 2023 ATX Open. This was their second match against each other since war broke out between Russia and Ukraine, making it Kostyuk’s second snub to Sabalenka as an opponent.
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Earlier this week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Russia had begun moving tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. This news came right around the time Russian troops retreated from Bakhmut, Ukraine.