Marta Kostyuk continues ‘no handshake’ tradition with the Russians after losing to Anastasia Potapova at the Miami Open
Marta Kostyuk ends her run at the Miami Open after losing to Anastasia Potapova in the second round
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Marta Kostyuk vs Anastasia Potapova
The Ukraine star, Marta Kostyuk once again refused to shake hands with Russian, Anastasia Potapova after the second-round match at the Miami Open. Kostyuk lost in straight sets 1-6, 3-6 against Potapova. Kostyuk had been very vocal recently against Russian players amidst the tension and war happening in her country. As a result, she started refusing to shake hands with all the Russian and Belarusian players who she plays against.
Although there are many Russian players who publicly announced that they don’t want any war, incidents like these are still happening. The Ukrainian players have a mixed stand on this issues. While some remain silent from the beginning, others have consistently expressed their anger on many occasions.
Due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, there have been many players from both countries badly affected. The ATP and WTA have already made sure that players from Russia and Belarus carry no flag in the competitions. Wimbledon went ahead and banned players from Russia and Belarus in 2022. However, this decision backfired and many felt its unfair to the players. In all probability, there will be no ban on players this year at Wimbledon.
Till date, many fans and experts believe that sports should not be part of politics of a country. Players like Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev have publicly wished for peace many times in the past. However, incidents like these will only bring a bad name to the sport.
Related: Carlos Alcaraz named ‘Mike Tyson of Tennis’ by Daniil Medvedev’s coach Gilles Cervara
Fans slam Marta Kostyuk for bringing disgrace to the sport
Kostyuk has a long history of such incidents in court from the last year in particular. Last year, the US Open saw the 20-year-old making headlines for refusing to offer a traditional post-match handshake to Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka. She went on to criticize Wimbledon strongly for lifting the ban against Russian and Belarusian players.
Fans slammed her brutally for her act and said no one actually cares about her and suggested that she should focus on her game first. Kostyuk had been very ordinary except for that one title at Texas this season. Many fans already stopped bothering about her and urged everyone else to not make it a news as she made her point clear.
A few fans even went on to call her a ‘crybaby’ for not performing on the court but making noise off the court. However, there were a few fans who supported her actions as usual and urged the rest to leave her alone as it can be traumatizing for her family.
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Santhosh Tenneti
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