NEA YORK. Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk she refused to shake hands with her opponent Victoria Azarenko due to the fact that Azarenka is Belarusian and did not condemn the war in Ukraine. Shortly before the match of the second round of the US Open, Kostyuk texted Azarenka to inform her that there would be no traditional handshake. Instead, the two tennis players’ rackets saluted with a slight touch on the net at the end of the match. Azarenka became the winner with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

Neutral flags

Kostyuk said she knows Belarusians who reacted to the Russian invasion and would like the same position from Azarenka. After the invasion, on February 24, athletes from Russia and Belarus compete under neutral flags.

Ukrainian Kostyuk did not shake hands with the Belarusian Azarenka, who did not condemn the war.

The only tennis tournament to which players from Russia and Belarus were completely disqualified was Wimbledon, in which the first racket of the world Daniil Medvedev from Russia did not participate. This decision divided the tennis world, and the final settlement stipulated that points in this tournament would not count.

“I always shake hands with my opponents. But I can’t force anyone. How did it make me feel? This is not the most important thing in the world,” said Azarenka, who reached the final of the American tournament twice. The Belarusian athlete noted that the same thing happened when she played another Ukrainian opponent last month in Washington.

Top tennis player Iga Swiatek noted that it is too late to improve the climate. “The federations should have intervened at the very beginning (in the first months after the start of the war), when there was a lot of tension in the locker room,” he said.