Ever since Russia and Belarus’ invasion of Ukraine, the tension has translated to the tennis courts with the most recent example being Ukrainian Kostyuk’s refusal to shake hands with Russian Potapova.
This is not a first for Kostyuk, she also refused to shake hands with Belarusian players Victoria Azarenka and Varvara Gracheva.
After her loss to Potapova, Kostyuk said that the WTA has not yet responded to the request of Ukrainian players to meet.
“Yes, we wanted to have the meeting with the board and we didn’t get one. No reply, nothing, just silence,” she said.
“I mean, once we’re in the meeting we can talk about it,” Kostyuk added. “Before the meeting, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about what we want to talk about there.”
“There are a lot of things that I don’t agree with that the WTA is doing. This is not going to change anything.”
“I’ll just get more hate online. Whatever I say, I will get a lot of hate. I don’t know.”
“Warning, whatever. You give her a warning… You can suspend someone, I don’t know. I can’t comment on that really, it’s just funny.”
Russian and Belarusian players have also decried the tensions they’ve experienced in the locker rooms and elsewhere.