The fans present in Bourg-de-Péage (Drôme) were not entitled to this clash of the new generation. The Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk was due to face the Russian Mirra Andreeva this Sunday in the final of the 6th edition of the Negometal Open exhibition tournament. But the match ultimately did not take place due to the conflict in Ukraine.
“Following reasons beyond our control and given the geopolitical context in Ukraine, Marta Kostyuk will not be able to play the final of the 6th edition of the Negometal Open,” lamented the Bourg-de-Péage Tennis Open on its networks social. The world number 39 had already refused to shake hands with Belarusian Victoria Azarenka during the last US Open, just as she had avoided Aryna Sabalenka at Roland-Garros. But according to Dauphiné Libéré, the 21-year-old player had accepted the possibility of playing the 16-year-old Russian prodigy if the situation arose when she registered for the tournament.
A word she therefore did not keep. To replace her, the organizers failed to find a player within the allotted time. “The deadline is unfortunately too short to find a replacement. We therefore made the decision to enter our Péageois Yanis Ghazouani into competition,” they explained. The player ranked above 800th place in the ATP rankings finally won in two sets (7-5, 6-2).
2023-12-17 19:53:00
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