Russian-born tennis player refuses to play with Ukraine's top-ranked player and withdraws from the 2024 Olympics

Yulia Putintseva (WTA #30) has withdrawn from her match against Ukraine's top tennis player Marta Kostyuk (WTA #19) at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. In the first round match, the 2nd ranked player of Kazakhstan will be replaced by Lulu Sun of New Zealand. The match was scheduled to start at 16:00, but was postponed due to rain.

On her social media, the Kazakhstani admitted that she was unable to recover from the knee injury she sustained during Wimbledon 2024.

"I was diagnosed with a torn meniscus, inflammation of two bones - my knee is still swollen, although I am undergoing regular physiotherapy. The knee is not ready to play. I apologize to the team, the federation and the fans. It's really hard for me," Putintseva said.

Yulia Putintseva is a native of Moscow. In 2012, the athlete renounced her Russian citizenship and started playing for Kazakhstan.

It should be noted that Marta will play at the Olympic Games for the first time in her career. She was supposed to compete at the 2020 Games, but withdrew from the tournament due to a shoulder injury.

As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, Marta Kostiuk posted a small photo/video report about the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics on her Instagram. The 22-year-old Kyiv resident captured the atmosphere in our national team's boat during the ceremony.

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