Google News Marta Kostyuk denies she was ever 'hateful' or 'aggressive' toward Aryna Sabalenka
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 6149
Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk says Aryna Sabalenka has definitely not experienced any kind of hate or aggression from her side. This week in Miami, Belarusia's Sabalenka said that "I have never before faced that much hate in the locker room." Also, Sabalenka claimed that "some girls are really aggressive against us (Belarusians)." Kostyuk did not agree with the hate claims but did acknowledge that there is tension between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players.
"I might not say 'Hi' to some players, but I never approached anyone. Maybe I myself spread hate just by being there. I don't know when people come out with that. But obviously there is tension - we're not friends. We are at war at the moment," Kostyuk told The Daily Mail.
Kostyuk insists Sabalenka never received any hate from her side
Prior to kicking off her Miami Open campaign, Sabalenka tried to explain why the past year hasn't been easy for Belarusian players either. “It was really, really tough for me because I’ve never faced that much hate in the locker room.
Of course, there are a lot of haters on Instagram when you’re losing the matches, but like in the locker room, I’ve never faced that. It was really tough for me to understand that there’s so many people who really hate me for no reason, like no reason.
I mean, like I did nothing," Sabalenka said. Also, Sabalenka suggested that some Ukrainian players have been acting aggressively toward her. "It seems like, everyone’s just ignoring each other. Not everyone actually, I’m still talking to some of the Ukrainians, but there are some of the girls who are like really aggressive against us.
So I’m just staying away from that," Sabalenka said. Ukrainian players think Russian and Belarusian players support the regimes of their governments and that's one of the biggest reasons why there is tension between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players.
