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Lesia Tsurenko shared a terrifying story of a Ukrainian friend following a loss to Aryna Sabalenka and asked her critics if some of them still had some negative comments or insults left to throw her way.
On Friday, Ukraine´s Tsurenko exited the Australian Open after Belarusian tennis star Sabalenka handed her a 6-0 6-0 loss. Tsurenko, who refused to shake Sabalenka´s hand due to well-known reasons, was seemingly hurled with negative messages and insults following the loss as many made it clear that they were happy with her brutal loss.
On Saturday, 34-year-old Tsurenko took to Instagram, where she claimed one of her friends was held in captivity by the Russians for a year and a half and lost 55 kilograms before returning home. While telling that story, Tsurenko wanted to make a point of what´s important in life and what´s not.
Tsurenko claps back at her critics
"I noticed that my loss yesterday made a lot of people happy, so my new post is for you. Please feel free to express whatever you want to me," Tsurenko started in a message posted on her Instagram Story.
"I hope this will make you happy for a little bit longer. but you know, on the eve of the new year, my friend returned from Russian captivity after 1.5 years, lost 55 kilograms of body weight and with an infection in his legs, but the main thing is that he is alive. This is real happiness.
"So I hope that you will also have real reasons to feel happy in your, and not because of the loss of some random tennis player whom you have never even met in your life."
For nearly the past two years, world No. 33 Tsurenko hasn´t been shying away from publicly speaking about her position and views on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, that has come with a price as Tsurenko claims she faced lots of abuse for the comments she has been making and for refusing to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players.
In her press conference after the loss to Sabalenka, Tsurenko claimed people get "annoyed" whenever she posts something about Ukraine and that leads to insults.