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Victoria Azarenka extended her solid run at the US Open after defeating Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the second round. The three-time finalist prevailed 6-2, 6-3 to advance to the third round, where she will lock horns with the winner between Petra Martic and Paula Badosa.
After their match was over, the duo didn't engage in the customary post-match handshake. Usually, a player meets their opponent at the net and shakes hands with them, irrespective of the result of the tennis match. However, in this instance, Kotsyuk, a Ukrainian, declined to shake hands with the Belarusian; instead, they simply touched racquets before parting ways.
The recent history between the two players has not been particularly kind because Belarus, Victoria Azarenka's homeland, has sided with Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, Kostyuk's homeland.
Marta Kostyuk announces her absence from the US Open charity match for Ukraine, cites Victoria Azarenka's presence as one of the reasons
The USTA previously held the "Tennis Plays for Peace" exhibition event to help the people of Ukraine on Ukraine's Independence Day, August 24, as part of the Tennis Plays for Peace program.
Like other high-profile players, Marta Kotsyuk, Ukraine's No. 3, was one of the players who received an invitation to participate in the exhibition but turned it down. In an interview with BTU Portal, the 20-year-old disclosed that she did not participate in the fundraising event due to the presence of some Russian and Belarusian players.
"Of course, I received an invitation. I think all our players got them. When Lesya Tsurenko and I found out - I'm only talking about us now, because we didn't ask anyone - so when we found out that there would be representatives of Russia or Belarus at this event, I immediately said that I will not participate in this," Kostyuk said.
She was enraged that no one had asked the Ukrainian players if they wanted Russian and Belarussian players to participate at the event.
"First of all, no one asked the Ukrainian athletes if they wanted any of these players to be present. Of course, no one is interested in this, it is the Independence Day of Ukraine, but what Ukrainians think is not interesting, is it?" she added.
Kostyuk was particularly infuriated by the appearance of Victoria Azarenka, primarily because the Belarusian, despite her position on the WTA player's council, offered no assistance to her or other Ukrainians.
"Secondly, I did not understand the reason why they called Victoria Azarenka. There was no open help from her in our direction. She did not communicate with me, but I know that she communicated with Sergiy Stakhovsky, with Gael Monfils in Madrid," Kostyuk said.
Keeping the dissatisfaction of the Ukrainian players in mind, the USTA later announced that Victoria Azarenka would be excluded after her nationality caused issues in the days preceding up to the event.
Also Checkout:- US Open 2022 Schedule
