Marta Kostyuk declines to comment after withdrawing from exhibition with Mirra Andreeva leaving bizarre Battle of the Sexes Final in France

An exhibition in France turned from normality to the bizarre as Mirra Andreeva was suddenly thrust into a battle of the Sexes where the WTA World No.57 lost to the ATP World No.1158 at the Open de Tennis de Bourg-de-Peage. This was after Marta Kostyuk decided to withdraw.

The World No.39 was scheduled to play the 16-year-old, but withdrew just hours before it was due to take place. Kostyuk entered the event as a replacement for Donna Vekic and as a result unlike Andreeva who had to face Varvara Gracheva, she got direct entry into the final.

But this posed its own issues as the showdown was called off after an official statement said that Kostyuk would not be playing due to 'reasons beyond their will' referencing the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Kostyuk is one of those players who has been a spokesperson throughout for Ukrainian Tennis alongside the likes of Elina Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko and like the former refuses to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players even being booed for not doing so.

It could be said perhaps that Kostyuk with it not being a professional tournament didn't feel obliged to play and so decided against it for her own views. But also the player who could've faced her in Varvara Gracheva also used to hail from Russia and now represents France so either way it likely would've heralded issues.

“Due to reasons beyond our will and given the geopolitical context in Ukraine, Marta Kostyuk will not be able to compete in the final of the 6th edition of Negometal Open,” a statement read from the tournament. “We’ve done our best to activate our network of professional players, but the time is unfortunately too short to find a replacement.”

Kostyuk was contacted by the site Ubitennis and replied with a short response declining to comment. “I prefer not to comment on this matter. Thank you for understanding,’ she said.