Dayana Yastremska says Russian or Belarussian players should be asked how they feel about playing against Ukrainian players on Tour following an incident involving one of her compatriots at the French Open.
On the first day of the Grand Slam, Marta Kostyuk was booed off the court after refusing to shake hands with world No.2 Aryna Sabalenka following their match. The reception from the crowd came as a surprise to the Ukrainian and others considering this gesture was not new in the sport. Ever since Russia launched their ‘special military operation’ on its neighbour in February 2022, Kostyuk and others have refused to shake hands with those from countries backing the war.
Yastremska, who secured a place in the French Open main draw by coming through qualifying, refused to weigh in on the argument following her 6-2, 7-5, loss to Donna Vekic. Like Kostyuk, she also doesn’t shake hands with players from Russia or Belarus following her matches.
“Since the war started, everybody said that we (Ukrainians) are not going to shake hands with Russians and Belarusian players. There’s nothing surprising.” She said during her press conference.
“ I didn’t expect this reaction (to Kostyuk). That wasn’t nice. I’m supporting this because I played against the Russians, and I also didn’t shake their hands. That’s our position, and everybody knows about this, so there is nothing wrong about it.”
During the early stage of the war, Yastremska and her 15-year-old sister sheltered for two nights in an underground car park in Odessa before fleeing to Lyon, France. Leaving her parents back home. Asked if she would have reconsidered her handshake boycott in Paris given what had happened, she refused.
“What is the difference? If we play against Russian and Belarusian, it doesn’t matter which tournament, we’re not going to shake their hands.” She stated.
“We (tennis players from Ukraine) have already said our position. We don’t feel really good. How we can go on court and play against people from a terroristic country like Russia? It’s difficult Emotionally.’
“It’s better to ask them (Russian or Belarussian players) how they feel playing against us. Do they feel good or not? It would be better to ask them those questions.”
Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has previously spoken out against the war in a blog post in which she wrote that ‘political ambitions or political motivation cannot justify violence.’ Speaking to reporters following her win over Linda Fruhvirtova, she confirmed that this post had since been removed due to a ‘PR person who is helping her.’ As for the handshake debate, she was reluctant to get involved.
“I don’t feel like commenting on all these things just because this has been too long now. I’m just here to play tennis, first of all,” she said.
“I cannot control what players do on the court, like, if they shake or not. It’s their decision.”
According to the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), almost 9000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict began. The tally doesn’t take into account those killed on the battlefield.
