The 2023 French Open got off to a controversial start yesterday. In the tournament’s very first match, Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk faced Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. Tensions were high ahead of the match owing to Kostyuk’s comments. The Ukrainian had issued a warning that she would not shake hands with Sabalenka, and so it proved to be the case. Kostyuk refused a handshake with Sabalenka not only before the match got underway, but also after it ended. The reasons for Kostyuk’s actions were entirely political and had nothing to do with sports. Many sections of the crowd were also in Kostyuk’s support, making the Phillippe Chatrier a hostile place for World No 2 Sabalenka.

However, ultimately Sabalenka managed to get past all the hate and comprehensively defeated Kostyuk. Unfortunately, more hate was in store for Sabalenka on social media. But, on this occasion, her loyal followers gave her some much-needed strength.

Aryna Sabalenka’s fans leave no stone unturned to motivate her

In an Instagram post, Sabalenka shared a video of her doing some light stretching exercises. It didn’t take long for the post to get some truly despicable remarks full of hatred from Kostyuk supporters. However, Sabalenka’s fans backed her up brilliantly, as they provided numerous words of encouragement to the World No 2. Kostyuk herself addressed Sabalenka following her defeat saying, “She never says that she personally doesn’t support this war, and I feel like journalists should change the questions that you ask these athletes because the war is already there”.

One fan congratulated Sabalenka for her triumphant performance against Kostyuk. The fan also highlighted Kostyuk’s lack of respect for Sabalenka, “Great match Sabalenka!! the Ukrainian has no respect, which goes home!”

Another fan offered some words of wisdom, “Great win, sorry how it ended, sport and politics should not be mixed.”

Yet another fan spurred Sabalenka on to achieve greatness at this year’s French Open, “Great job Aryna!! Keep doing it! And let’s get this Roland Garros and world number!! come on tiger!!”

Another fan was also adamant about keeping sports and politics separate, “Sport should be about sport and not politics. And Aryna is a awesome tennis player.”

An Irish fan also offered support to Sabalenka, “Support from Ireland. stay strong, they are not able to break you.”

One fan simply wrote, “Well done trashing Kostyuk!!”

Read More: French Open Lands in Soup on Its Inaugural Day of Action as Peculiar Moment Arises Between Aryna Sabalenka and Marta Kostyuk

An Australian fan also offered words of support for the World No 2, “Nothing but love from Melbourne.”

Aryna Sabalenka laid bare her pre-match worries in her post-match press conference

After Kostyuk stated her intent to refuse a handshake to Sabalenka quite clearly, the Belarusian was worried. Following her dominant victory against Kostyuk, she opened up about her feelings ahead of the match in front of the press.

Sabalenka said that she was concerned that people in the crowd would not support her simply because she was facing a Ukrainian. However, ultimately, she decided to put her mind on tennis and nothing else. It’s safe to say that her decision paid dividends as she went a step deeper into the competition while Kostyuk went home.

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