Marta Kostyuk slammed the fans that booed her after her first-round loss at the 2023 Roland Garros.
The first-round match at the second Grand Slam of the season between Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk was a highly-anticipated one, but it was much shorter than some probably expected. The Belarusian won in two sets, but the main talking point was the absence of a handshake.
Already before the match, Sabalenka said that she was ready for it but fans at the Court Philippe Chatrier weren't. After Kostyuk refused to shake hands with her opponent, fans started booing and they also booed her off the court.
After the match, the Ukrainian talked to the press, and she was really sad about the fact that fans in the French capital booed her, even saying that they should feel embarrassed for their actions.
"I don't know. I feel like people support me in different tournaments, and I just want to show my best and to play tennis and people to support me playing tennis when I play tennis. What happened today, I have to say I didn't expect it. I did not, but I have no reaction to it. People should be honestly embarrassed, but this is not my call."
Kostyuk also revealed that because of some negative reactions, she deleted some of the social media applications from her phone and that she also tries to avoid opinions from the people.
"I don't know. I feel fine. On the social media after my statements I have a lot of negative reactions, but I deleted most of my -- deleted almost all social media from my phone. I don't read anything. I close the comments, and I don't want to -- honestly I don't. I'm full of this shit that people say. It doesn't make sense, so I just skip that."
Continuing to speak about her first-round opponent Sabalenka, the Ukrainian made a comparison with Daria Kasatkina, who has been a bit more vocal about her beliefs.
"About Sabalenka and Kasatkina, I think Kasatkina made her statement, and she's not going back to Russia, and that's her choice. I can see that she really -- she gave up something that's important for her to -- I don't know how to say. To stay on the side of the truth and of the kindness and love, I think."
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