Ukrainian praises decision to ban Russians

MARTA KOSTYUK says Ukraine is grateful to Wimbledon for its support in the war with Russia and has expressed her relief the third major of the year has not been hit by boycotts.

The All England Club’s decision in April to ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing at the Championships sparked criticism and saw the ATP and WTA strip ranking points from the tournament.

Naomi Osaka was one high-profile figure who suggested she could skip Wimbledon and while she is absent due to injury, the world’s best will be at SW19 despite initial fears it could become akin to an exhibition event.

“All the Ukrainian players are standing with Wimbledon for their decision and I don’t honestly think just Ukrainian players,” Kostyuk said. “I think there are a bunch of players who support this decision. Only a couple of withdrawals – due to injuries – but everyone is still playing and that melts my heart.

“I am glad players didn’t turn their back on Wimbledon. It could have turned out differently. Players could have boycotted it and then Wimbledon wouldn’t allow Russian or Belarusians anyway.

“Everything was not set correct and if something like this [boycott] happened, it would bring a lot of mess which is already here with us, so I am standing with Wimbledon. I say it 100 times.”

Teenager Kostyuk is one of four players from Ukraine in the women’s singles but Elina Svitolina will be absent after she announced her pregnancy. It means greater expectation on the world No.79 from Kiev, but tennis has been far from her mind since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“My dad is home in Kiev. The rest of the family is out. It is never safe because it is always, how do you say it, air raid sirens and all these things. I don’t know how it goes. It is not easy to talk about or easy to process,” Kostyuk said.

“I speak with a therapist. I don’t think in circumstances like this you can process this information by yourself and deal with it by yourself. I know people who haven’t been seeking help or anything like this and I can see how much it damages then.

“I have done a lot of work and it helped me not just on court but in different areas of my life.”