"Really against it" - Kostyuk blasts US Open for including Azarenka in Ukraine charity match
WTA
Marta Kostyuk was not happy about Victoria Azarenka's inclusion in a charity match for Ukraine ahead of the 2022 US Open.
The US Open organizers tried to show their support to Ukraine during their war conflict with Russia. To do that, they organized an exhibition tournament prior to the start of the event.
Players like Rafael Nadal and Coco Gauff signed up to entertain fans and raise funds, and naturally, also Ukrainian players Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko were among those who should appeare on the tennis court.
However, to their surprise, also former WTA World No. 1 player Victoria Azarenka received an invitation. Azarenka is a Belarusian player, and Belarus was one of the two countries banned from this year's Wimbledon, as it's seen as Russia's ally.
Kostyuk didn't like the fact that Azarenka was invited to participate as well. In an interview with the Ukrainian publication BTU, she said that after learning about the invitation for the Belarusian player, she said she would not compete.
"Of course, I received an invitation. I think all our players got them. When Lesia Tsurenko and I found out - I'm only talking about us now, because we didn't ask anyone - so when we found out that there would be representatives of Russia or Belarus at this event, I immediately said that I will not participate in this."
Kostyuk couldn't understand why Azarenka was among the invited players. The tournament organizers wanted to make a gesture of a Belarusian player helping Ukraine as well, but Kostyuk didn't appreciate that.
"So I don't understand why she's called, I can't understand why she's even going to do this. Knowing what kind of relationship she has with all of us."
"It didn't happen that she met with all of us and said, they say, girls and boys, here's 10 thousand for you, please, you know who needs to be helped. It wasn't close to that. She has no personal good relations with us."
