Why no handshake will take place between Marta Kostyuk and Mirra Andreeva in Madrid Open Final
WTASaturday, 02 May 2026 at 17:00
Marta Kostyuk faces Mirra Andreeva shortly in the final of the 2026 Madrid Open but there won't be a handshake between the pair albeit this has been a part of these Russian-Ukrainian matches for a long time anyway so is not a huge shock.
Kostyuk has advanced at the Madrid Open after beating Anastasia Potapova with whom she refrained from shaking hands with. However ahead of her appearance in the final, she confirmed that again she won't be doing so when she faces Andreeva either who still holds her Russian nationality of course unlike Potapova who defected.
A perhaps tiresome point at this juncture in regards to it being known for sometime, Kostyuk made the point again in the press conference to also alleviate confusion as she does in fact shake hands for instance with Daria Kasatkina who has left Russia to become Australian.
Kostyuk will only shake hands with one player
But some have seen in their view hypocrisy regarding that given she did represent Russia but Kostyuk said she is the only person she will shake hands with and maintains relations with as she has openly denounced the war and made the decision to become Australian nationality wise as she wouldn't be safe realistically back in her own country.
Due to the comments she has made but also due to being openly gay. While Potapova for instance on the otherhand was somewhat of a surprise given that she played in the Gazprom exhibition for instance weeks before she left to play for Austria and she received flack for copying Kasatkina's statement it seemed word for word as to her defecting.
Kostyuk will only shake hands with Kasatkina of Russian origin.
"The only person I shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina because she didn't just change her passport, but also openly said she doesn't support the war and all of that stuff," said Kostyuk prior to her Potapova clash.
"That's why me and other girls made the decision to shake hands with her, purely out of respect. In this case, I mean there have been multiple players who have changed their nationality, but none of them have ever voiced anything against war or you know, anything to support Ukraine. So, whatever, for me it doesn't change."
Often tournaments have had to make announcements about the fact that Ukrainians do not shake hands with Russians with some who are not well versed in tennis seeing it as disrespect over the meaning behind it and booing accordingly. This has also gone for Belarusian players too so Aryna Sabalenka for instance would not receive a handshake and Andreeva won't either today.
❌️ Marta Kostyuk dijo que no le dará la mano a Anastasia Potapova (rusa nacionalizada austriaca)
— Tiempo De Tenis (@Tiempodetenis1) April 30, 2026
🗣 "La única persona a la que le doy la mano es a Daria Kasatkina porque ella no solo cambió su pasaporte, sino que también dijo abiertamente que no apoya la guerra y todo eso. Por… pic.twitter.com/mUM6Dw2MHt
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