Russian Kostyuk refuses to greet Potapova | WTA ‘silence’ lamented

(Miami) Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk has slammed the WTA for ignoring a request to meet with players from her war-torn country on Thursday after her Miami tournament loss to Russia’s Anastasia Potapova, to whom she called. refused to shake hands.

“We wanted a meeting with the (tour) board and we didn’t get it. No response, nothing, just silence,” Kostyuk told reporters.

Asked by AFP, the WTA did not wish to react.

Last week, her compatriot Lesia Tsurenko said that several Ukrainian players had made this request. She withdrew just before facing Belarusian Aryna Sabelenka at the Indian Wells tournament, explaining afterwards that she suffered a “panic attack” following a conversation with the WTA boss about the consequences of the Russian invasion of his country.

Kostyuk (38th in the world) refused to discuss the issues she, Tsurenko and other compatriots wanted to raise with the body. “Before a meeting can take place, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about it,” she said.

In Miami, the luck of the draw put her on the same road to the 2nd round as Potapova (26th). At the end of a match under high tension, which nevertheless took place without incident, the latter won 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the 3rd round, where she will face the American Coco Gauff (6th).

The Russian angered Ukrainian players last week in Indian Wells by entering the court wearing a Spartak Moscow football club jersey. This was seen as a sign of support for his country in the conflict in Ukraine and earned him a formal warning from the WTA.

Not enough to satisfy Kostyuk. “There are a lot of things that I disagree with what the WTA is doing. It’s not going to change anything,” she said. “Whatever I say, I will reap a lot of hate. But a warning? Never mind. You can suspend someone, I don’t know. I can’t comment on that, it’s just funny.”

Last week, Aryna Sabalenka acknowledged that “there is a lot of tension” between Russians and Belarusians on one side and Ukrainians on the other.

“Obviously there’s tension, we’re not friends, we’re at war right now,” said 20-year-old Kostyuk, who won her first WTA title in Austin earlier this week. months, beating the Russian Varvara Gracheva in the final.

“I may not say hello to some players, but I never approached anyone, I never spoke to anyone. Maybe I spread hate just by my presence,” she quipped.

When asked if she is able to ignore the war when she is on the courts, Kostyuk replied: “It depends on the day. I think it’s best to avoid any type of news because for the past year most of the news I’ve been getting has been horrible and bad.”