Tennis,
March 6, 08:42
Ukrainian woman refused to shake hands with a Russian woman after winning the WTA tournament
Ukrainian and Russian tennis player also abandoned the traditional joint photo of the finalists
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(Photo: Global Look Press)
Russian tennis player Varvara Gracheva lost to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk with a score of 3:6, 5:7 in the final of the WTA tournament in Austin, USA.
The rivals have met five times before. At the moment, the score in personal meetings is 4-2 in favor of Kostyuk.
After the final, the 20-year-old Ukrainian woman refused to shake hands with the Russian woman, as is customary in tennis. During the award ceremony, the opponents refused the traditional joint photo of the finalists and did not say a word about each other, which is also customary in tennis.
Earlier, Kostyuk repeatedly stated that she would not shake hands with Russian tennis players. And in September 2022, she defiantly refused to shake hands with Belarusian Victoria Azarenka after losing in the second round of the US Open.
Azarenka called unsurprising Ukrainian refusal to shake her hand at the US Open
This is the first final for Kostyuk and Gracheva. Thanks to the victory, the Ukrainian entered the top 40 for the first time in her career. She rose from 52nd to 40th place. Gracheva overcame 22 positions at once and is now on the 66th line. For the 22-year-old Russian woman, the highest place in her career is 59th (July 2022).
The tournament in Austin belongs to the WTA-250. Tournaments in this series have the lowest rating in the WTA system. The prize fund of the tournament in Austin is $250 thousand. The Ukrainian earned $34.2 thousand for participating in the tournament, Gracheva – $20.2 thousand.
