Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk refused to shake the hand of her Belarusian opponent after their US Open match stating she had not publicly condemned the war in her country.
Belarusian Victoria Azarenka had won their second round match 6-2,6-3 and said she was not surprised by the move, but she wants to help Ukrainian players.
Former world number one Azarenka has previously had a friendly relationship with her country's president of Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally of Vladimir Putin. Kostyuk criticised her Belarusian opponent for not condemning the war publicly. Talking about the handshake refusal after her defeat Kostyuk said: "I just don't think it's the right thing to do in the circumstances I'm in right now.
