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Tennis News –
Marta Kostyuk: “I’m still 19. I've been trying to be as vocal as possible but you feel hopeless most of the time” Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk talked to Reuters after her first-round loss to Mayar Sherif at Roland Garros 19-year-old Ukrainian does’t hide her frustration over the Tours’ decision to not award points at Wimbledon this year and to strip points for the last year’s edition. “I would say 80-85% of the players had nothing to do with the (WTA) decision. It's so ridiculous I couldn't believe it. None of the players' representatives contacted me. None of them asked about my opinion, what I think. It's like Ukrainian players don't exist. I've been trying to be as vocal as possible but you feel hopeless most of the time about the situation. I'm still 19. What can I say? It's not easy”. Marta Kostyuk said she is thankful to Iga Swiatek for her support of Ukraine. Earlier another Ukrainian player and Marta’s friend Lesia Tsurenko echoed her sentiments about the appreciation for all the help and support from the World No.1 and Poland in general. “I want my fellow players to support and understand the situation and be vocal on some things as well. But I mean, look at what Rafa said, look at what Novak said. How can you get the support from the tour when top three players say these things?”. Marta shared her traumatic experience on playing against the Russian players. At the Internazional BNL d’Italia Kostyuk and her doubles partner Elena-Gabriela Ruse from Romania lost to Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier this month. After losing the first set 1-6, Marta Kostyuk walked off the court and didn’t come back. "I started crying on love-three. Before the match, I was really pumped, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna win and when I went on court, I felt so weird. I started crying and I started talking to my coaches. I said I cannot be here, I don't know why I'm playing. I have to win to be heard, but I don't because there are other problems on the other side, which I'm facing. So a lot of pressure around. Suddenly there were way bigger things in life than tennis. I don't think a lot of people faced what I've been facing". This year Marta's grandfather joined her at Roland Garros for the fist time ever. He had to flee from the war in Ukraine to a safer place. Original story here Website BTU - Ukrainian Tennis - joins the fundraising to help internally displaced persons in Dnipropetrovsk Region
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