Marta kostyuk australian open8/26/2023 ![]() ![]() Kostyuk responded by saying she does not hate Sabalenka but has no respect for her and accused her of failing to speak out about the war properly. Before the match, Sabalenka said even if Kostyuk hates her, she has no similar feelings towards the Ukrainian. Shortly afterwards, Kostyuk held court in a 35-minute press conference. But unfortunately, it’s not in our hands.” If it could affect anyhow the war, if it could like stop it, we would do it. “Why do we have to go loud and say that things? This is like one plus one, it’s two. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it. ![]() “I said it many, many times: nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war,” Sabalenka said. Her links to the Belarusian dictator came under further scrutiny when he referenced her results during an address to the nation about the war this year. In 2021, Sabalenka also attended Alexander Lukashenko’s new year address after months of mass protests and violent state suppression in Belarus. Sabalenka has received criticism for consistently arguing that she believes sport should remain out of politics, and also because she spent November and December doing some of her pre‑season training in Ufa, Russia. Sabalenka’s press conference included a tense exchange with a Ukrainian journalist, who implored her to be more specific with her opinions on the war. They saw it as disrespect to me as a player, so that’s why it was booing her.” “Because we all know Ukrainian girls will not shake hands with us, so it’s kind of not a surprise for us, but probably the public today was surprised. “I couldn’t understand what’s going on,” the world No 2 said. Sabalenka said she did not have an issue with the absence of a handshake. I think they will not feel really nice about what they did.” Kostyuk said: “I want to see people react to it in 10 years when the war is over. A confused Sabalenka was then urged by her team to acknowledge the crowd properly. ![]() But as Kostyuk departed, she was booed until she left the court. Sabalenka initially believed the crowd’s ire was directed at her and reacted with a sarcastic bow. People should be honestly embarrassed, but this is not my call. “I did not, but I have no reaction to it. “What happened today, I have to say I didn’t expect it,” Kostyuk said. ![]()
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