US Open called out for inviting Belarusian to Ukraine charity match – ‘Really against it’ | Tennis | Sport

The former world No 49 then took aim at the two-time Aussie Open champion for accepting to play the exhibition without any history of supporting Ukrainian players. “Although I was one of the most active in my statements, she had no contact with me. There was probably no desire to talk either,” Kostyuk said of the former No 1.

“So I don’t understand why she’s called, I can’t understand why she’s even going to do this. Knowing what kind of relationship she has with all of us. It didn’t happen that she met with all of us and said, they say, girls and boys, here’s 10 thousand for you, please, you know who needs to be helped. It wasn’t close to that. She has no personal good relations with us.”

The 20-year-old also said she and her fellow Ukrainians didn’t want to see the Russian and Belarusian players on tour, making it even more painful for Azarenka to accept the invitation to play in the charity match. “I don’t understand how human it really is. Why does she do it and why does she go for it,” she questioned. “Purely human, because she knows from our words how we cannot tolerate them here, how we want them not to be at any tournament, like in England. Despite this, she goes for it.”