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Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk recently lambasted the WTA and ATP players who participated in a tennis exhibition in Russia during the 2023 off-season.
The event was organized in St. Petersburg from December 1-3. Several big names such as Russia’s Karen Khachanov, Alexander Shevchenko, Anastasia Potapova, Veronika Kudermetova, Russian-born Kazakh Alexander Bublik and France's Adrian Mannarino took part in it.
While the official ATP and WTA tournaments in the country have been suspended amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the governing bodies have said they won’t be penalizing players for their participation in any independent exhibition.
Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, who has frequently protested the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes at official tournaments, called the organizers out and expressed her disapproval of the players’ involvement in the Russian exhibition.
"Russia is very well-known for very well psychological pressure and propaganda," she said during her press conference at the 2024 Australian Open. "It's really their specialty. You know, they're not bad at it. They're actually really good. People, they get caught in it. You really need to be sharp all the time."
The World No. 37, who herself pulled out of an exhibition match in France when made to face Russia’s Mirra Andreeva, alleged that the players took part in such events due to the lure of money
"Every single day there are choices in front of you about anything. I feel like as long as people are doing easy choices and the ones that benefit them the most, this is where we have a problem. Like, what's going on in the world? Look around," Kostyuk said.
"People get manipulated and get caught. It's never just tennis. Go to Russia and play this tournament where they pay you a lot of money. I'm pretty sure they just got paid a lot of money, so that's why they went there. I just have different beliefs. I truly don't understand these players. I don't know why they did it. Yeah, congrats to Russia's propaganda. It works. Not always, but it works, unfortunately," she added.
Marta Kostyuk reaches Australian Open 2024 4R
Marta Kostyuk is currently in Melbourne for the ongoing Australian Open. The 21-year-old has advanced to the fourth round after a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 comeback win against Russia’s Elina Avanesyan. She had defeated Claire Liu and Elise Mertens in the first and second rounds, respectively.
This is the first time that Kostyuk has booked her place in the second week of the Melbourne Major. Her previous best result was reaching the third round in 2018, 2022 and 2023.
In her bid for her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal, Kostyuk will face either Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia or Russia’s Maria Timofeeva on Sunday, January 21.
