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The tennis community on social media was perplexed at Marta Kostyuk breaking the Ukrainian tennis pros' practice of snubbing Russian-origin players at the net on Friday (May 11) after she shook hands with Daria Kasatkina following her second-round victory against the 14th seed. Kasatkina had represented Russia until earlier this year, when she switched her nationality to Australia.
Kostyuk has put together a respectable campaign on the WTA Tour in 2025, winning 16 of her 26 tour-level matches thus far. The World No. 27 Ukrainian reached the third round of the Italian Open this week by downing quality opponents like Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Eala in straight sets, respectively.
The 22-year-old's 6-4, 6-2 rout of 14th-seeded Kasatkina, who previously represented Russia on the world tennis stage, drew largely negative reactions from tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) after a picture of the two players greeting each other following their second-round match at Foro Italico went viral.
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A few pointed out Marta Kostyuk's selective behavior at the Italian Open when it came to the Ukraine-Russia war, as she had previously refused to shake hands with her Russian and Belarusian peers.
"What a hypocrisy. Kasatkina has been against the war since the beginning but till yesterday the hand shake was out of question and today it’s everything ok," one fan insisted on X.
"Hypocrisy level hard," another asserted followed by a laughing emoji.
Another fan, meanwhile, alluded to how Armenia's Elina Avanesyan and France's Varvara Gracheva are yet to receive the same generous treatment from Ukrainian players despite having left Russian citizenship behind long ago.
"And yet no handshake for Avanesyan or Gracheva?" the fan asked.
Here are a few more reactions from social media:
"So by simply changing your passport, Daria became friend worthy to Marta? I now get why it's so easy to manipulate anyone into hating a neighbor," one fan wrote.
"Just goes to show it’s complete bulls**t. Change your passport, get a handshake. So unbelievably dumb," another fan wrote.
"LOL Marta only shook her hand because she won. She would’ve had attitude and walked off if she lost," one fan claimed.
"Be nice, don’t be like Marta Kostyuk," another insisted.
Marta Kostyuk to face Leylah Fernandez for a place in the fourth round of Italian Open 2025
Marta Kostyuk will next take on 24th-seeded Leylah Fernandez in a marquee third-round clash at the 2025 Italian Open later this week. The two players' encounter in Rome will mark the first time they face each other on the WTA Tour.
Kostyuk, on her part, will be eager to go past the third round at Foro Italico for the first time in her career. The Ukrainian has already reached the last eight at two 1000-level events this year - the Qatar Open and the Madrid Open. In that regard, going deep at the Italian Open this fortnight will bode well for her French Open aspirations.
