Daria Kasatkina’s switch from Russian tennis to play for Australia has been given a stamp of approval from her Ukrainian conqueror at the Italian Open.
Marta Kostyuk, one of the women’s tour’s in-form players, has made a high-profile point along with many of her fellow Ukrainian players of not shaking hands with Russian or Belarusian opponents after matches in protest at the invasion of her homeland.
But after defeating her for the first time since the world No 15 switched allegiance to Australia in March, Kostyuk was quick to offer her hand at the net on Friday after her 6-4 6-2 win before praising Kasatkina for what she believed was a courageous stand she had taken against Russia.
