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Alexandr Dolgopolov defends his countrywoman Marta Kostyuk from criticism. The gesture was not very welcome by various fans and insiders, who reserved a lot of criticism against the Ukrainian player. In Austin Marta Kostyuk, winner of the US ATP 250 final, and the Russian Varvera Gracheva did not shake hands at the end of the match due to the current geopolitical situation between the two peoples, officially at war for over a year.
Former tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov decided to write some messages on his Twitter account to defend his compatriot's choice: "Some still don't understand. Talk to this girl about the handshake, but nothing is said about the families of all the people who they are killed every day, all those good and poor Russians, who have nothing to do with it.
I don't have any relatives or friends who voted for Putin... yet tennis lets them shut up." Then he added: "Putin has huge support in Russia, we have numerous facts of many players who support their government and don't no action has been taken.
Tennis has failed to keep the sport away from genocide, so it's best to rest easy with the handshakes and the spectacle of sports clowns. Besides being silent accomplices, taxpayers, voters and so on, the my relatives, friends or Ukrainians in general are here every day and fight together with me,” concluded Dolgopolov.
The criticism of the former number one
Among the complaints leveled at Kostyuk, was that of former doubles world number one Paul McNamee: "Have we stooped so low that the simple act of sportsmanship between two athletes, competing individually, is not respected? Win? Or lose, you look your opponent in the eye and shake the hand.
Stop," the former player clearly stated. The episode has not gone unnoticed and may not be a simple isolated case. To better understand the behavior of the players of the two nations, a new challenge between a Ukrainian and a Russian tennis player it could be very interesting.