Australia Open 2024: Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk says victory 'does not matter' amid war with Russia
- Published
Kostyuk, ranked 41st in the world, reached the Australian Open doubles semi-finals last year
Australian Open 2024 |
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Venue: Melbourne Park Dates: 14-28 January |
Coverage: Commentary every day from 07:00 GMT on Tennis Breakfast on Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the BBC Sport website and app |
Marta Kostyuk said tennis "doesn't really matter" amid the war in Ukraine as she equalled her best Grand Slam singles result at the Australian Open.
The Ukrainian, 21, beat Russian Elina Avanesyan 2-6 6-4 6-4 to reach the fourth round of a major for the second time.
"The war is still there. People are still dying every day," said Kostyuk.
"My mom sends me videos when there are missiles flying over their house.
"My whole family is in Kyiv [Ukrainian capital] right now."
Kostyuk has often spoken about the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the presence of Russian and Belarusian players on the tennis circuit.
"To me it's incredible that it's still going on," she added. "It's been almost two years.
"I still don't understand what all these players are doing here. Nothing really changed in my world."
Once again Kostyuk did not shake hands with Avanesyan after her victory, as she has done with all Russian and Belarusian players since the invasion.
Wimbledon banned players from the two countries in 2022 before reinstating them last year, while other tournaments have allowed such players to compete under a neutral flag.
In a passionate news conference, Kostyuk also questioned the role of the media in the West, suggesting the war has been allowed to fall out of the news.
"So they want the drama," she said. "They wanted news. They wanted all this heating between players and everything.
"I'm here to remind everyone all the time that it's still on, and it should be stopped.
"The reality that I'm living in, is everything is very far from being over.
"We've never been in a good position because it's a completely unequal and terrible war.
"We're just in survival mode for the last two years. People are incredibly depressed now and tired.
"I don't feel like it's stopping any time soon, and I don't feel like anyone is doing anything about it."
Kostyuk's compatriot Lesia Tsurenko also played on Friday but was beaten 6-0 6-0 by Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka.
Tsurenko said she receives "bad messages" on social media when she posts about the war.
"People don't want to talk about war," she said. "People don't want to hear bad news. People are annoyed if I post something.
"But it's very tough to explain if you don't feel what I feel and how other Ukrainians feel."
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