French Open star breaks down during interview after refusing handshake with rival | Tennis | Sport

Marta Kostyuk became emotional after winning her opening match at the French Open and revealed that missiles struck near her parents’ house this morning. The Ukrainian 15th seed came to Paris in form after winning the Madrid Open and beat Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2 6-3.

Russian-born Selekhmeteva recently switched nationalities to Spain and was playing under the Spanish flag for the first time. But Ukrainian players have not shaken hands with their Russian and Belarusian rivals since the war began, and Kostyuk still avoided a handshake with Selekhmeteva.

The No. 15 seed went straight to shake hands with the umpire instead, and then sat on her bench, burying her face in a towel as she appeared to cry. After taking a moment for herself, Kostyuk addressed the crowd during her on-court interview and had to fight back tears as she explained why she had been so emotional.

“I’m incredibly proud of myself today. I think it was one of the most difficult matches of my career. This morning, 100 meters from my parents’ house, the missile destroyed the building. It was a very difficult morning,” Kostyuk said.

“I didn’t know how this match is gonna turn out for me. I didn’t know how I would handle it. I’ve been crying for part of the morning. I don’t want to talk about myself today. I’m very pleased to be in the second round, but all of my thoughts and all my heart goes to the people of Ukraine today. Thank you so much for coming out. Slava Ukraine.”