Marta Kostyuk ‘wants to beat every single Russian player’ after ‘terrible’ decision
Marta Kostyuk has sent a strong message to Russian tennis players as she described a controversial Olympics decision involving Russian athletes as “terrible.”
It was revealed earlier this week that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided to provisionally lift its ban on Russian athletes competing at the Games.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, tennis players from Russia, and Belarus — Russia’s military ally — have competed under neutral status rather than their nation’s flags.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, only 32 Russian and Belarusian athletes competed with neutral status, although this included a host of tennis stars, including Daniil Medvedev, Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev.
Kostyuk, who is currently Ukraine’s second highest-ranked tennis player across both the women’s and men’s tours, has been an outspoken critic of Russian players being allowed to compete in tennis since the war in her country started.
The 24-year-old has also strongly criticised Russian players who have not spoken out to condemn the war.
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Following her quarter-final win against Jasmine Paolini at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, Kostyuk was asked about the IOC’s decision.
“Well, my thoughts are that it’s terrible,” Kostyuk said in her press conference.
“I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine.
“Yeah, I 100% don’t agree with this decision. But I feel like a lot of people spoke out on this issue. They obviously don’t agree, as well. I don’t think anything is going to change.
“I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in Olympics, and that’s it.”
Asked if she will speak to the ITF, which organises the tennis events at the Olympics, Kostyuk added: “I’m sure we’re going to do something about it.
“I’m definitely not going to be doing this before my semi-final match.
“Yeah, maybe I can talk more about it in U.S. or wherever, whenever I have time to talk to the team, to the girls, to the government as well, see what we’re going to do about it.
“As of now, not something I’m focused on.”
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