Marta Kostyuk shares why there’s just one Russian tennis player she’s willing to shake hands with

Marta Kostyuk shares why there’s just one Russian tennis player she’s willing to shake hands with

Marta Kostyuk has a big chance to win the 2026 Madrid Open trophy tomorrow after making it to the final by beating Anastasia Potapova in the last round. If she wins, it will be her first WTA 1000 title. Marta hasn’t won a Grand Slam yet, but her best result so far was reaching the quarter-finals of the 2024 Australian Open.

Winning the Madrid Open would be a proud moment for Marta and could give her tennis career a big boost, leading to more future wins. But first, she has to face Mirra Andreeva, a Russian player, in the final.

This match has a political side too. Marta, who is 23 and proud to be Ukrainian, has said before that she won’t shake hands with Russian players. We saw this happen when she didn’t shake hands with Potapova in the semi-final. Potapova now plays under the Austrian flag but used to represent Russia.

Now, Marta will play 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva from Russia. Even though she has said she won’t shake hands with Russian players, people expect she will stick to that again. However, she does make an exception for one Russian player.

Before the final, Marta explained, “The only person I shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina because she didn’t just change her passport, but also openly said she doesn’t support the war. That’s why me and other girls decided to shake her hand out of respect. Many players changed their nationality, but none spoke out against the war or showed support for Ukrainians. For me, that doesn’t change anything.”

Daria Kasatkina, originally from Tolyatti, Russia, now lives in Melbourne, Australia. She announced she will officially represent Australia starting in March 2025 and will get citizenship in January 2026. The Guardian reported that she made this choice because of the problems faced by the LGBTQ+ community in Russia, like criminalisation and censorship.