“The WTA is very protective of Russian and Belarusian athletes; this is so cynical, it has no limits”- Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk fumes over mismanagement in stance on Russia-Ukraine war 

Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk has expressed great displeasure over the WTA's stance regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

She fumed over the actions of the Cincinnati Open organizers. The tournament was tainted with controversy earlier in the week as a spectator draped in Ukraine’s flag was asked to leave the qualifier match between two Russian players Anastasia Potapova and Anna Kalinskaya after one of them complained about her presence.

Speaking to BTU portal, Marta Kostyuk raged about WTA’s leniency towards the Russian and Belarusian athletes.

“I have a lot of comments on this topic. It simply does not fit in the head, how this could happen. The WTA is very protective of Russian and Belarusian athletes, they say that NONE of them support Russia and they are all such good guys,” she claimed.

The 20-year-old was stumped at how the situation with the Ukrainian flag was handled. She further pointed out that the WTA was more concerned about the discomfort faced by the Russians than how the Ukrainian players felt in the presence of athletes from aggressor countries.

“But, as we can see, the trigger point in them is the Ukrainian flag. And the fact that the trigger for us is those Russians and Belarusians who support Russia [in the war against Ukraine], no one is interested in that. Our requests to do something are completely ignored,” she added.

The Cincinnati Open authorities had stated at the time that the issue was regarding the size of the flag and not the flag itself. An infuriated Marta Kostyuk disputed their justification by mentioning a contradictory incident.

“The reason she was removed from the stand, as reported, was that the flag was too large. Cincinnati itself displayed a huge Spanish flag that they had hanging in the stands. This is so cynical, it has no limits,” she said.

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Marta Kostyuk and her colleagues from Ukraine had previously urged the WTA to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes

Marta Kostyuk and her Ukrainian colleagues urged the WTA to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes

Marta Kostyuk along with Elina Svitolina and other Ukrainian colleagues urged the WTA to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in future tournaments.

Their request came after the LTA and All England Club’s decision to ban players of the two nationalities from Wimbledon.

“We demand that the WTA, ATP and ITF make sure that players who represent Russia and Belarus answer the following questions- 1. Do you support Russia’s and Belarus invasion in Ukraine’s territory and as a result of that the war started by those countries? 2. Do you support Russia’s and Belarus military activities in Ukraine?”

“3. Do you support [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s and [Belarus President Alexander] Lukashenko’s regime? If applicable, we demand to exclude and ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in any international event, as Wimbledon already done,” her plea on social media read.

The ATP and WTA instead stripped Wimbledon of their ranking points and established that the LTA's action was against the integrity of the ranking system.

"The ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination is fundamental to our tour. The decision by Wimbledon to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing in the U.K. this summer undermines this principle and the integrity of the ATP ranking system," they stated.

Kostyuk has now decided to boycott the upcoming Ukraine-war charity event organized by the US Open on August 24 due to the presence of Russian/ Belarusian players, especially Victoria Azarenka. She called the former World No. 1 out for insincerity.

“I did not understand the reason why they called Victoria Azarenka. I can't understand why she's even going to do this. Knowing what kind of relationship she has with all of us. She has no personal good relations with us,” the Ukrainian declared.