As always with Kostyuk and Svitolina, though, those moments of happiness were with mixed with a much harder reality. Both women are from Ukraine, and neither has shied away from speaking out and supporting their country in whatever ways they can. Even as the two were scaling new career heights in May, their country and its civilians were being struck by new rounds of Russian missiles.
A few minutes after Svitolina twirled in triumph, she finished her trophy speech this way:
I want to thank all the people back in Ukraine that have been supporting me, watching at night, being in the bomb shelters.
“It’s been really heavy for the past couple of weeks for Ukraine, and I want to thank you for all the support, and I feel all the love.”
Before Kostyuk did her back flip, she bypassed the handshake with her Russian opponent, Mirra Andreeva, the same way she and the rest of the Ukrainian players have bypassed handshakes with nearly all their Russian and Belarussian opponents for nearly four years now. In her victory speech, she thanked “all of my opponents” rather than singling out Andreeva.
During the tournament, Kostyuk was asked if “this stuff still fazes you” because “the war’s been going on for so long.” She didn’t waste any time reinforcing her stance. The only Russian player she’ll shake hands with is Daria Kasatkina, she says, because she’s the only one to come out publicly against the invasion.
“For me, that doesn’t change,” Kostyuk said.
