28 May 2023 at 14:05 Refused to thank for the match The Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk would not shake the hand of the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka after she pulled out of Rolands-Garros on Sunday. According to the BBC, she was then booed off the pitch. Kostyuk has repeatedly criticized the tennis authorities for looking too soft on players from the two countries, where Belarus is allied with Russia and supports the war in Ukraine. Sabalenka stated ahead of the duel that she would understand the choice of Kostjuk. – Regarding the reluctance to shake hands, I can kind of understand them. I imagine that if they had shaken hands with Russians and Belarusians, they would have received so many messages from their home countries, said Sabalenka ahead of the Grand Slam tournament in Paris. On Sunday, Kostjuk lost in straight sets with the numbers 3-6, 2-6 against Sabalenka and finished as expected without taking the opponent by the hand. She did the same with Belarusian Viktoria Azarenka during last year’s US Open. (NTB)
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