“It’s like Ukrainians don’t exist” Marta Kostyuk slams Belarusian Victoria Azarenka for her role in Wimbledon’s points removal decision


“It’s like Ukrainians don’t exist” Marta Kostyuk slams Belarusian Victoria Azarenka for her role in Wimbledon’s points removal decision

Victoria Azarenka and Marta Kostyuk

19-year old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk is one of the many vocal Ukrainians speaking against the bloodshed in their country ever since Russian troops entered the Ukrainian territory on 24th February 2022. The invasion attempt by Russians has led to a war that has been going on for over 3 months now and has caused insurmountable destruction in Ukraine.

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Amidst this, to put pressure on Russia in stopping the war, countries and global unions have imposed sanctions on the country and their citizens which have also dragged Belarus into them for the country allowing safe passage and use of infrastructure such as airports to the Russians. In tennis, the ATP and WTA have suspended the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations with the players from the two nations without their national flag and playing as neutral athletes.

Amidst this, the LTA and Wimbledon in the UK went a step ahead and banned the players from the two nations to participate in any grasscourt event in the UK this year including the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. Despite requests from ATP and WTA, no change was made to the decision to which the ATP and WTA retaliated by docking all ranking points from Wimbledon.

Also Read: Also Read: “Are you playing for a computer ranking?” Martina Navratilova slams Naomi Osaka for her comments on Wimbledon

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“80-85% of players had nothing to do” Marta Kostyuk on the decision of WTA

Marta Kostyuk
Marta Kostyuk

The decision has not met with complete support from the players and tennis fans and Kostyuk used this opportunity to call out former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. The 2-time Grand Slam champion is part of the players’ board of WTA involved in taking decisions for the Tour and Kostyuk revealed that the majority of the players were not asked for their opinions before making the decision on Wimbledon’s points docking.

“I would say 80-85% of the players had nothing to do with the (WTA) decision. It’s so ridiculous I couldn’t believe it. None of the players’ representatives contacted me. None of them asked about my opinion, or what I think. It’s like Ukrainian players don’t exist. I’ve been trying to be as vocal as possible but you feel hopeless most of the time about the situation. I’m still 19. What can I say?

“It’s not easy. I want my fellow players to support and understand the situation and be vocal on some things as well. Victoria Azarenka is in the players’ board, making decisions about points in Wimbledon, where she’s not even participating. And saying that she has no personal interest in making decisions. Just the fact that she’s present there on the calls, doing whatever. It’s ridiculous,” said Kostyuk speaking with Reuters.

Also Read: Bubble breach in the 2022 French Open as defending champion Barbora Krejcikova becomes the second player to test positive for Covid

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Also Read: ‘You feel hopeless’ Marta Kostyuk hits back at Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic for their ‘firm’ stand in the Wimbledon saga

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