"It was tripping! I wanted to hit them in the head with a ball." Kostyuk recounts how she was taken off the court during a match with Russians

Ukraine's third-ranked player Marta Kostyuk admitted that it was very difficult for her to play against Russian tennis players after the full-scale invasion of Russia. According to the 21-year-old Kyiv resident, her first match against the representatives of the aggressor country took place in May 2022 and was very difficult for her.

Kostyu told about it in an interview with sport-express.ua. The tennis player recalled the match with Victoria Kudermetova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, which she played in a pair with Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania. According to our compatriot, she simply could not continue playing after the first set.

"I've never shaken hands with any Russian or Belarusian women. The first such match I played was against the Russian pair Veronika Kudermetova - Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova at the WTA tournament in Rome. it was so tripping in that match! I just wanted to hit them in the head with the ball. I wasn't interested in anything else. They played well and ended up winning the tournament. I felt so bad that I called a physiotherapist to the court and said I couldn't play or breathe. They just took me away. I didn't shake their hands," Kostyuk said.

Earlier, Marta said that Russian tennis players continue to behave arrogantly and impudently, pretending that everyone owes them something because of their neutral status.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

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