Ukraine’s Kostyuk shakes arms with Kasatkina, praises anti-war stance

Ukrainian tennis participant Marta Kostyuk shook arms with Daria Kasatkina following her straight-sets victory over the previous Russian on the Italian Open on Friday.

Kostyuk, ranked twenty seventh on the earth, defeated Kasatkina 6-4, 6-2 within the event’s second spherical. Nevertheless it was the handshake on the web – a gesture she has persistently withheld from Russian and Belarusian opponents since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – that drew speedy consideration.

Kasatkina, now competing below the Australian flag, is among the few former Russian gamers who’ve publicly condemned the conflict. She got here out as homosexual in 2022 and has not returned to Russia since, citing the nation’s more and more repressive local weather.

Kostyuk acknowledged the importance of Kasatkina’s stance in a message posted on Instagram after the match.

“Because the starting of the conflict, I’ve chosen to not shake arms with Russian or Belarusian gamers,” she wrote. “However when somebody not solely tells the reality – calling Russia the aggressor – but additionally acts on it, that deserves respect.”

“Daria Kasatkina has clearly spoken out towards the conflict and made the choice to surrender her Russian sports activities citizenship. That takes braveness – and I acknowledge it,” Kostyuk added. “I hope this isn’t the ultimate step, however a part of a deeper dedication. I stand with Ukraine. I stand for fact, for dignity, and for individuals who select to talk and act – when staying quiet could be simpler.”

Kasatkina, at the moment ranked fifteenth on the earth, has been an outspoken critic of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, and her determination to modify allegiances is seen as a uncommon and daring transfer on the earth of Russian sports activities, the place dissent is usually met with extreme repercussions.

Kostyuk will face Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez within the third spherical.