As expected, the Madrid Open final between Marta Kostyuk and Mirra Andreeva was bound to be filled with drama because of political views. Kostyuk won the Madrid Open final, 6-3, 7-5.
Kostyuk, who is from Ukraine, has refrained from shaking hands with anyone associated with Belarus and Russia, including Andreeva. The Russia-Ukraine war matter, resulting in no handshakes, was just the tip of the iceberg between the two.
Marta Kostyuk-Mirra Andreeva Madrid Open Controversy Explained
Handshake Snub
With Russia invading Ukraine in 2022 and continuing to be at war, the tennis world, especially Ukrainian players, has started to maintain distance from their Russian counterparts. Marta Kostyuk is among those, and she has decided not to shake hands with anyone giving public support to the war.
She did not even shake hands after her semifinal win against Anastasia Potapova, who is a Russian-born Austrian tennis player.
“There have been multiple players who have changed their nationality, but none of them have ever voiced anything against war or you know, anything to support Ukraine. So, whatever, for me it doesn’t change,” Kostyuk said regarding not shaking hands with Potapova.
This policy applied to Andreeva as well, leading to no interaction before or after the final. Kostyuk did not pose for a traditional pre-match photo. Moreover, after she clinched the match point, she went straight to the chair umpire for the handshake, snubbing Andreeva.
Putin Links Accusation
Former Ukrainian tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov accused Mirra Andreeva of liking posts about Russian president Vladimir Putin, who decided to invade Ukraine in 2022. Dolgopolov also called out Andreeva for pretending to be gracious about great finals against Kostyuk.
“Congratulations to Marta, well deserved!” the former star wrote. “First her opponent likes posts about putin, then her fans pretend she is gracious in the speech and hate Marta🤡
What an enjoyable Saturday night.”
Victory Speech Backlash
After the game, both players were interviewed. In her runner-up acceptance speech, Mirra Andreeva didn’t fail to congratulate Marta Kostyuk for her win and for having a great clay season.
“I’d like to congratulate Marta and the team for this amazing win today and for how your clay season is going as well. You won two tournaments in a row. You’re playing very well. Congrats for the win today,” Andreeva said.
When Andreeva gave a shout-out, Kostyuk didn’t acknowledge any appreciation. Meanwhile, when it was her time to speak, she intentionally skipped mentioning Andreeva’s name and rather appreciated all the players in the tournament for pushing her to the limits.
“I wanna thank all my opponents that I played this week,” Kostyuk said. “Girls pushed me to the limit. One of the most unbelievable matches for me these weeks.. very special two weeks here. If you look at the stats up until last year I think I was like 2-7 in Madrid. I never thought I’d be able to lift the title here. It was not my favorite tournament for sure.”
Several fans online even called out Kostyuk for her intentional skip of Andreeva.
“the only thing i’ll say about this discourse is that kostyuk refusing to even acknowledge mirra’s existence was far too much… was a “thank you for the match you had a great 2 weeks” too difficult for her?” one fan asked.
“Can’t even even congratulate andreeva or mention her name acting andreeva is in the war and politics,” another commented.
It appears Kostyuk will keep isolating those players who have not come out to oppose the war from that part of the world.
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