Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk said the WTA assured Ukrainian players that not a single Russian player was supportive of Russia’s actions in Ukraine but the Cincinnati controversy suggests otherwise.
During a Cincinnati qualifying match between two Russian players – Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova – a woman wearing a Ukrainian flag was thrown out.
After the incident, the woman said Kalinskaya and Potapova were bothered by the flag and asked the chair umpire to tell her to remove the flag.
When she refused to remove the flag, a security guard came to her and told he would call the cops if she didn’t leave the stadium.
“I can’t even wrap my head around it. Beyond cynical to post pics with other flags, but act like that towards the Ukrainian flag. We know from the start that the tour’s support is not on our side, unfortunately, but this was just something else, unimaginable,” Kostyuk told Ukrainian Tennis. “The thing is, WTA told us, that not a single player supports Russia, that they are all good. But we see that the Ukrainian flag somehow triggers them? And the players who support war/Putin do trigger us, nobody cares about that. All our requests to do something were ignored.”
#Kostyuk re 🇺🇦 flag incident in Cincy: I can’t even wrap my head around it. Beyond cynical to post pics w/other flags, but act like that towards 🇺🇦 flag. We know from the start that the tour’s support is not on our side, unfortunately, but this was just smth else, unimaginable.
— Ukrainian Tennis 🇺🇦 ENG (@ukrtennis_eng) August 20, 2022
#Kostyuk: The thing is, WTA told us, that NOT A SINGLE PLAYER supports Russia, that they are all good. But we see that 🇺🇦 flag somehow triggers them? And the players who support war/putin do trigger us, nobody cares about that. All our requests to do smth were ignored.
— Ukrainian Tennis 🇺🇦 ENG (@ukrtennis_eng) August 20, 2022
Kostyuk on the upcoming charity event at the US Open
10 days ago, the US Open announced that a charity event for Ukraine will be held on August 24.
Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Cori Gauff are expected to highlight the exhibition event.
Victoria Azarenka, a Belarusian Grand Slam champion, is also set to play.
Kostyuk revealed she also received an invitation but added she won’t play if any player from “the aggressor countries plays.”
“I’ve got an invitation to join, I think, all of Ukrainian players have got them. No one asked Ukrainian players if they would be fine to see Russia/Belarus players there. I won’t play if players from aggressor countries play,” Kostyuk said. “Nobody asked our opinion on such an idea to invite Russian and Belarusian players. Nobody is interested in that. It’s on Ukraine’s Independence day [& also the six-month mark of Russia’s invasion], but what the Ukrainians actually think, nobody is interested in that too.”