
Mats Wilander is hoping the Marta Kostyuk and Victoria Azarenka case does not escalate any further as he noted that making it a personal things is "very dangerous."
On Thursday, Belarusian tennis star Azarenka ousted Ukraine's Kostyuk 6-2 6-3 in the US Open second round. After the match, Kostyuk refused to shake hands with Azarenka. Instead, Kostyuk just tapped Azarenka's racket.
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Previously, Kostyuk called out Azarenka's participation at the US Open's charity event for Ukraine, which ultimately led to Azarenka being excluded from the event.
"It is way more than just a tennis match," reflected Wilander on Eurosport. "Of course Victoria Azarenka is Belarusian but her opponent Kostyuk is Ukrainian so obviously there is that whole thing going on.
"We know that Russian and Belarusian players were not allowed to play in England for Wimbledon or the lead-up tournaments and there are certainly players out there who feel the same rules should apply here in America towards the Belarusian and Russian players.
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"But to make it into a personal thing I think is very dangerous. You have to understand both sides somehow. I cannot imagine being from Belarus or Russia and trying to get out there and do your best knowing that there are people around who may not necessarily agree with what your governments are doing."
Kostyuk has since spoken up on her decision to not shakes hands with Azarenka, stating that the former World No.1 has not done enough to show she doesn't condone the actions of Russia and Belarus in Ukraine.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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