After Wimbledon comeback victory, Kostyuk makes a bombshell revelation about Ukraine | Tennis news

Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk stunned Greece’s Maria Sakkar in the first round of Wimbledon 2023 on Court 2 on Wednesday. Sakkari, ranked eighth, fell to a 6-0 5-7 2-6 defeat against Kostyuk, who is currently 36th in the WTA rankings.

The 21-year-old has become one of the tour’s most vocal critics of Russian and Belarusian players. Last year they were banned from Wimbledon due to the Ukrainian invasion, but were allowed to continue competing in other tournaments as neutrals.

Meanwhile, at the French Open, Kostjuk was booed for refusing to shake the hand of Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka after her opening round loss. After laughing, he pointed to the Roland Garros crowd. Speaking about his country after winning the first round at Wimbledon, he said: “After the attack in Ukraine, I have rethought many things.”

“I see them from a different perspective. Tennis is not the center of my life, it’s just what I do for a living. I don’t live what they go through. I think who goes through the worst moments of my life doesn’t make me feel better about my problems or the situation I’m in at the moment. What happened made me realize that tennis is not everything in my life,” he added.

When fans jeered him in Paris, he said: “It was questionable behavior on their part. I mean, they can do whatever they want, but to be honest, I didn’t get it.”

Against Sakkar, he was in danger of losing, dropping the first set at love in just 25 minutes before making a comeback. There was a rain break in the first set and another in the second, which helped him regain his momentum. Sakkari got off to a dominant start, initially looking bothered by the rain suspension to take the first heat after the restart. Kostyuk had other plans in the second set and made a comeback with an aggressive game. Kostyuk will face Paula Badosa in the second round on Friday.