Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus claims that she cannot “cannot do anything” if Marta Kostyuk “hates” her because her country helped Russia to invade Ukraine.
During their first-round match at the French Open, Kostyuk is not expected to shake hands with world number two Sabalenka. Belarus, a Russian ally, permitted forces to commence the invasion of Ukraine last year from its soil.
Sabalenka stated, “If they feel comfortable not shaking hands, I’m happy with that.” The 25-year-old Sabalenka, who won the first major of her career at the Australian Open in January, is trying to win back-to-back Grand Slam events at Roland Garros.
Also, the Belarusian has a chance to surpass Iga Swiatek of Poland and take over the top spot in the WTA rankings. Sabalenka has already stated that “no-one supports war” and she reaffirmed her position in Paris on Friday.
Aryna Sabalenka in 2023
At the moment ranked no.2 (career-high), Aryna played her last match on the 11th of May when she lost to world no.120 Sofia Kenin 7-6(4) 6-2
in the 2nd round in Rome (draw).This season Aryna has achieved a compiled 29-5 win-loss record. Sabalenka clinched 3 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open and Madrid. The Belarussian reached the final in Indian Wells and Stuttgart.
Marta Kostyuk in 2023
Ranked world no.39, Marta played her last match on the 14th of May when she lost to world no.29 Paula Badosa 6-4 6-2 in the 3rd round in Rome (draw).
At the moment, during this season Kostyuk has achieved an overall 18-11 win-loss record. The Ukrainian conquered 1 title in Austin.
Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk played each other only once. Their actual record is 1-0 for Sabalenka. When they played, Aryna Sabalenka won 6-4 6-1 in the 1st round in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Championships) in February 2022.