Belarusian tennis star Victoria Azarenka said Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk messaged her before their US Open match and made it clear she wasn’t planning to shake hands after the match. On Thursday, Azarenka saw off Kosytuk 6-2 6-3 to progress into the US Open third round.
At the net, Kostyuk and Azarenka just tapped rackets, a post-match routine that was used in the early days of the pandemic. “I wasn’t surprised,” Azarenka said, per Eurosport. “I don’t believe that making a big deal out of it is important.
I always shake hands with my opponents. I had the same situation with [Dayana] Yastremska in Washington. It is what it is. I just move on. I cannot force anybody to shake my hand.” Also, Kostyuk suggested that Azarenka – who is a WTA Players Council member – should be doing more to support Ukrainian players.
Azarenka responds to Kostyuk: I’m always ready to listen, she has my number
“I don’t think that, with all due respect, I don’t think she has any idea of what I do on the player council because she’s not there,” Azarenka added.
“So if anybody, as I said, if anybody wants to talk to me, I’m always available to players. Because it’s part of my job, player council, to listen to feedback of players, and Marta is no different for me. To me, I look at her as a tennis player, as a colleague.
I know she’s going through a lot of difficult situations. It’s not easy to handle. From my perspective, I wish she had somebody who guide her a little bit better through this difficult time. There is going to be more sympathy from others.
I feel like when you’re trying to, I don’t know, react, it’s not always received that well. So I’m always open to listen. I can’t force people to do something they don’t want to do. But any time, she has my number, as you know, she texted me, and all others, as well.
Whatever I can do to help people, I don’t play political games, I don’t play media games, that’s not what I’m here for. I’m a very direct person.”
