Unable to sleep the night before her first-round match at the French Open against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the Grand Slam tournament's No. 2 seed, Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine checked her phone at 5 a.m. Sunday and saw disturbing news back home in Kyiv.
At least one person was killed when the capital of Kostyuk's country was subjected to the largest drone attack by Russia since the start of its war, launched with an invasion assisted by Belarus in February 2022.
What surprised the 20-year-old, 39th-ranked Kostyuk on Sunday was the reaction she received from the spectators in Court Philippe Chatrier: They loudly booed and derisively whistled at her as she walked directly over to acknowledge the chair umpire instead of congratulating the winner after the lopsided result. The negative response grew louder as she gathered her belongings and walked off the court toward the locker room.
Sabalenka tried to ask the chair umpire what was going on. She looked up at her entourage in the stands, too. Then she realized that while she is aware Kostyuk and other Ukrainian tennis players have been declining to greet opponents from Russia or Belarus after a match, the spectators might not have known — and so responded in a way Sabalenka didn't think was deserved.
“You’re playing against Ukrainian and you never know what’s going to happen. You never know how people will — will they support you or not?” explained Sabalenka, who went down an early break and trailed 3-2 before reeling off six consecutive games with powerful first-strike hitting. “I was worried, like, people will be against me, and I don’t like to play when people so much against me.”
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Ukraine's Kostyuk booed after not shaking hands with Belarus' Sabalenka at French OpenMarta Kostyuk, who is from Ukraine, avoided so much as any eye contact with Aryna Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, after the match, instead walking directly over to acknowledge the chair umpire. Sabalenka walked toward the net as if expecting some sort of exchange.
Lire la suite »
Ukraine's Kostyuk booed at French Open after no handshake with Belarus' Sabalenka because of war\u0022I have to say,\u0022 Kostyuk said, \u0022I didn\u0027t expect it. ... People should be, honestly, embarrassed.\u0022
Lire la suite »
Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bianca Andreescu lead Canadian singles hopes at French OpenThe Canadian tennis scene reached new heights in recent years thanks to a young core of domestic talent that broke through on the sport's biggest stages.
Lire la suite »
Tennis: Five top contenders for the French Open women's crownWatch out for these five.
Lire la suite »
Auger-Aliassime, Andreescu lead Canadian singles hopes at French OpenTenth-seeded Félix Auger-Aliassime leads Canadians into French Open
Lire la suite »