Tennis - Australian Open - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia - January 19, 2024 Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in action during her third round match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko want to keep the focus at the Australian Open firmly on war-torn Ukraine, saying on Friday that people continue to suffer almost two years after the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Kostyuk defeated Russian Elina Avanesyan 2-6 6-4 6-4 to move into the Melbourne Park fourth round for the first time, but the 21-year-old spent little time talking about her win and instead shifted the attention to the plight of her people.
"My mother sends me videos when there are missiles flying over their house. I watch this. To me it's incredible that it's still going on and it's been almost two years," Kostyuk, whose family is in Kyiv, told reporters.
Kostyuk said she feared the war would not stop anytime soon and people were in "survival mode".
"People are incredibly depressed now and tired," she added.
"I try to do my best. I compete and I try to succeed. At the end of the day I look around and I don't feel all of this really matters. It's just a match. It's just a tournament. Out there is real life."
Kostyuk did not shake her opponent's hand after compatriot Lesia Tsurenko had also avoided the customary post-match ritual after a 6-0 6-0 loss to second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
Russia calls its actions a "special military operation" and is backed by Belarus, which has been used as a staging ground.
Tsurenko said going into a clash with a player from either of the nations was a painful reminder but vowed to persevere.
"They're part of that ... war machine hurting my country and my people," Tsurenko said. "This is tough for me, but I'm trying to find happiness in everything that I do and go and hit the yellow ball."
Tsurenko said she receives negative comments on social media when she talks about the crisis in Ukraine.
"People don't want to talk about war. People don't want to hear bad news. I get a lot of bad messages on social media," she added. "People are annoyed if I post something.
"But it's tough to explain if you don't feel what I feel and how other Ukrainians feel."
Sabalenka said the position of Ukrainian players was well established on the tennis tour.
"I understand everyone's position and I respect everyone's position," she said after the match. "She was quite respectful. She said 'great play'. She didn't shake my hand, but she was respectful to me, so I appreciate that."
A seasoned professional on the women's tour, Tsurenko said she had good relationships with Russian and Belarusian players before the war, but that was now impossible.
"I don't have respect for the fact that for most of them it was impossible to come and say that they don't agree with what's going on in my country ... 99% of them never did," she said.
"Why should I have any relationship with them?"
The world number 33 said that she had become used to beginning her days by checking for news from Ukraine.
"Unfortunately this is part of my life," Tsurenko said.
"It's a hard thing to say, but I got used to it. It's horrible to get used to the fact that there's a war in your country and it'll not stop tomorrow."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Neil Fullick and Toby Davis)
