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Marta Kostyuk ripped the French Open crowd after being booed off the court, saying they should feel "embarrassed" after their act. After Belarusia's Aryna Sabalenka handed Kostyuk a 6-3 6-2 loss in the French Open first round, the Ukrainian refused to shake hands with the Belarusian.
The crowd immediately reacted by booing Kostyuk. As Kostyuk was exiting the court, she was hit by a second wave of boos. "I did not expect it. I have no reaction to it but people should be, honestly, embarrassed. I want to know how they will feel about that [booing her] in 10 years, when the war is over.
I don’t think they will feel great," Kostyuk said, via Express-Sport.
Aryna Sabalenka taking a bow.
Marta Kostyuk is being booed after the match for not shaking hands.
There’s a lot happening at Roland Garros right now.pic.twitter.com/TWHdQhB4Ue — The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) May 28, 2023
Sabalenka said Kostyuk 'did not deserve' the boos
When the crowd started booing, Sabalenka looked stunned as initially she thought they were booing her.
But then Sabalenka realized that it was Kostyuk who was getting booed. “It was a very tough match. I would say, tough emotionally. And, I mean, sorry guys, I didn’t get it at first. I thought this ‘boo’ was against me.
So I was a little surprised. But then, I felt your support. So, thank you so much for the support. Yeah, it’s really important. Thank you,” Sabalenka said in her on-court interview Later in her press conference, Sabalenka said that Kostyuk "did not deserve" the boos.
“I understand why they’re not shaking hands with us. I can imagine if they shake hands with us, what’s going to happen to them from the Ukrainian side. I understand that this isn’t personal. That’s it.
I think she didn’t deserve to leave the court that way," Sabalenka said in her press conference. Kostyuk has been very outspoken in her support for Ukraine since the Russian invasion started. For a while, Kostyuk hasn't been shaking hands with Russian and Belarusian players. Going into the match, Sabalenka knew there would be no handshake after her match against Kostyuk.