Ukrainian tennis star Marta Kostyuk has spoken about the brutal reality her family and friends are living through while cheering her on at the Australian Open.
Kostyuk was knocked out in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at the hands of 4th seed Coco Gauff but not before putting up an over three-hour fight, eventually falling 7-6 6-7 6-2.
But the tennis wasn’t at the forefront of her mind as the outspoken Ukrainian star revealed the bleak reality her loved ones faced back in Ukraine.
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“I was texting with some people from Kyiv. I said, ‘how is it? how are you guys?’ They said, ‘well, we were looking between your score and where the missiles are flying’,” she said in a press conference after her loss against Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old explained her parents and sister were still living there.
“Before the match I was looking at the news and I kind of guessed that most likely there would be a big missile shelling again,” she said.
“And when I walked off the court, I look at this news again, I don’t know how many missiles yet. It’s still too fresh.”
Kostyuk was asked whether she would have ever thought the war would have lasted this long when Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, and her answer was grim.
“I think if someone would have told us, like, one month after the war began that this would last for two years, I think everyone would just die, like, literally just say, no, never, we will never withstand it, we will never survive this for two years,” she said.
“So yeah, time goes by, and things happen. It’s very exhausting to live in this state.”
Kostyuk said she was glad sport was still able to bring people joy throughout the war.
She said it was good the people of Ukraine were able to “look at something different rather than other than missile shellings” and she hoped even during these times, sport would continue to grow.
“I hope I will have enough time and influence in the future to help as many kids in sports as I can, but it’s not easy, you know, and sport is not an easy thing to do anyway, regardless if there is a war or not,” she said.
It is the second year players from Russia and Belarus are only allowed to compete at Melbourne Park as neutral players, not under the name or flag of their country to condemn the invasion of Ukraine.
On the graphics on the TV coverage, a blue space where the flag of a player’s country is usually displayed is being used for Russian and Belarusian players.
Tennis Australia also introduced a blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian flags in Melbourne Park last year, after a Russian flag was displayed courtside during a match featuring a Ukrainian player.
Kostyuk has been outspoken about it not being enough, and asking why athletes from these countries are even allowed to play on the tour.
“We have repeatedly asked the question, ‘What is the status of a neutral athlete?’ Because it actually does not exist,” she wrote in a post on Instagram on Sunday night after defeating Russian Maria Timofeeva 6-2, 6-1.
The US Open had posted an image of Kostyuk with the scorecard displaying a Russian flag instead of the neutral flag.
She continued: “These athletes have repeatedly said that everyone knows which countries they represent.
“Their government constantly says that these are their athletes and the world knows about it.
“The international media in their publications write that these are Russian and Belarusian athletes.
“Many athletes have their flag on social networks.”
Tennis Australia told news.com.au in a statement: “The Russian and Belarusian flags are banned, as per 2023 and the international agreement signed by the Federal Sports Minister and representatives of more than 30 countries around the world.”
When Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka won the 2023 Australian Open, her name was engraved on the Daphne Akhurst Memorial trophy.
But unlike previous champions’ names on the trophy, Sabalenka’s country was not written in brackets like it was for Ash Barty (AUS) or Naomi Osaka (JPN).