Marta Kostyuk’s French Open came to an end in the semifinals against Mirra Andreeva. The Ukrainian lost the encounter 6-1, 6-3, but besides the scoreline, it was the post-match handshake (or the lack thereof) that also made headlines.
Ever since the breakout of the Russia-Ukraine war, Kostyuk and her compatriots have maintained a no-handshake policy with players from Russia and Belarus. Fans, however, were unimpressed by the continued mixing of politics and sports.
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Some of them too to social media to express frustration at the development between Kostyuk and Andreeva when she refused to shake hands or ackowledge her opponent from across the net, with one of them calling for a fine, suspension and eventual banning in case a player continued to shun their opponents.
Another, meanwhile, said there was no room for “hate” in tennis. One of them went back to the Madrid final, recalling how Kostyuk had snubbed Andreeva in her victory speech after lifting the trophy. They pointed out that there would be “no backflips” in an obvious reference to the Ukrainian’s now-famous celebration in the Spaniash capital.
“Refusal to shake hands with your opponent should result in a fine and if done repeatedly, suspension and eventual banning. Marta Kostyuk is a bad person and should be disciplined by the WTA,” a fan wrote.
“Oh Kostyuk… sometimes having too much hate in your heart just not healthy for tennis,” added another.
“Do you understand why Ukrainians players don’t shake hands with russians? Or it is super hard for you to understand?” questioned a post on ‘X’.
“Mirra was like that b***” not beating me today. She will be doing no back flips at my expense today. Good for Mirra, felt so bad for her after Kostyuk didn’t have the decency to acknowledge the teenager after her Madrid win,” read another post.
Marta Kostyuk’s winning streak ends after French Open semifinal loss to Mirra Andreeva
Notably, Marta Kostyuk had received news about a bombing near her home in Kyiv while she was competing at the ongoin French Open. During an interaction with the media at the Grand Slam, she revealed that her mother and sister could have been seriously injured or even killed had the bomb dropped even a few metres in their direction.
The Ukranian has been one of the most notable voices from the tennis fraternity when it comes to talking about the suffering in her home country. She had even dedicated her win over Elina Svitolina, the top-ranked player from Ukraine, to the resillience of the people back home.
On the professional front, Kostyuk is playing some of her best tennis. She was on an 18-match winning streak coming into the semifinal, but could only muster four games against an on-song Mirra Andreeva.
Edited by Vedant Chandel
