Ukraine’s Kostyuk won’t Shake Hands with Russian, Belarusian Players

Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine declines to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players.

As Russian missiles continue to attack her nation, Marta Kostyuk, the second-ranked tennis player in Ukraine, says she won’t shake hands with tour competitors from Russia and Belarus because she thinks they haven’t done enough to speak out against the invasion.

The 20-year-old Kyiv native garnered media attention last year when, following the Belarusian’s victory over her at the U.S. Open, she refused to shake hands with former world number one Victoria Azarenka.

When Kostyuk won her opening-round match against eighth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova at the Australian Open on Monday, she made the statement that she would not shake hands with any Russian or Belarusian opponent who had not condemned the invasion.

She told Reuters: “I haven’t changed about the war and everything that’s going on, on tour,” 

“Because people who just say they don’t want war, it makes us (Ukraine) sound like we want war.”

“Obviously we don’t want the war, too.”

“Whoever speaks out clearly I believe has every right to be on tour but whoever doesn’t … I don’t think it’s just humane,” she said.

“I don’t really talk to anyone,” she added of Russian and Belarusian players.

“I barely say ‘hi’ to them.”

Kostyuk’s father and grandfather, as well as the majority of her relatives, reside in Kyiv.

She keeps in touch with them frequently and expressed that it was unsettling how accustomed they had all grown to the “horror” of the war.

“Like, I am more stressed being outside and looking in, than actually being there,” said Kostyuk, who went on a visit to Kyiv in October and left a few days before missiles began to fall on the city’s center.

She was updated by her mother about Russian attacks, including her and her neighbor trying sneak coffees inside ahead of a predicted barrage of missile strikes. She also declared even that if it was unsafe, she would still travel to her native Ukraine because she did not doubt that her nation would ultimately triumph.

She further said, “It just takes time and unfortunately a lot of losses and death, including a lot of innocent people.”

“This is our faith, I guess, and we have to just come back strong.”
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