Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk faced the wrath of the crowd on Day 1 of the French Open after refusing to shake hands with Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka following her first-round match. On Sunday, May 28, Kostyuk lost 3-6- 2-6 to the World No.2 and bowed out of the clay-court tournament. 

After the end of the game, the 20-year-old Kostyuk went off without shaking hands with her Belarusian opponent. The behaviour was deemed as unsportsmanlike from the crowd that booed the Ukrainian over her actions.  

Before the start of the game, Kostyuk clearly mentioned that she does not want to shake hands with Australian Open 2023-winner Sabalenka. 

“I come to the tournament, I want to win every match I play, the only thing I am doing I am not shaking hands. I have never said in an interview or in private to Aryna Sabalenka or anybody that I hate her or somebody else,” Kostyuk had said before the match. 

Sabalenka, on the other hand, had said that she would prefer focusing on her game rather than cluttering her mind with other aspects that she cannot control. 

“I do not want to waste my energy on this kind of stuff, you know. This is like, it is not about - - it is none of my business, you know. So, if she hates me, okay, I cannot do anything about that,” Sabalenka had said. 

Sabalenka dominates Kostyuk 

As far as the match was concerned, Sabalenka conceded an early break, but earned one back to stage a comeback. From there on, she did not look back and won the first set. In the second set, she broke Kostyuk’s serve early to take an early advantage. 

Sabalenka won four break points compared to Kostyuk’s one and that turned out to be a crucial factor in the context of the game. Sabalenka, who has a chance of becoming the World No.1 by end of the tournament, will play her second-round match on May 31.