At Roland Garros,
We don’t like to generalize but, after a while, we have to know how to say stop to stupidity. So: if the public at Roland-Garros were a feeling, it would be embarrassment incarnate. After booing the young Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk for not shaking hands with the Belarusian Sabalenka, close to dictator Alexander Lukashenko and supporter of Putin in the war in Ukraine, after behaving like a gougnafier with the sympathetic Taylor Fritz during his victory against Rinderknech, the last French in the running last Thursday, here he went after the Russian Daria Kasatkina, Sunday evening, after his defeat in two sets against Elina Svitolina.
The reason ? Hard to know really. Because she’s Russian? Because she didn’t shake Svitolina’s hand after the game? Honestly, since the Central rotten Kostyuk and applauded Sabalenka, we haven’t stopped looking for any political positioning of this public more volatile than a Manuel Valls of the great era. All we know is that the public missed another chance to shut up. And that it starts to do a lot.
Kasatkina supports Ukraine and opposes Putin
What the public did not know, obviously, is that despite the more than tense situation on the circuit between the Russians and the Ukrainians, Daria Kasatkina and Elina Svitolina have great mutual respect. If the two players did not shake hands after the match on Sunday evening, it was by mutual agreement, Kasatkina understanding how such a gesture could be badly perceived in Ukraine for Svitolina. “They have reasons not to do it,” she said, moreover, last March, in Madrid, after her match against Lesia Tsurenko, another Ukrainian. On Sunday, the two players therefore contented themselves with greeting each other from afar with a thumbs-up.
If “Dasha” Kasatkina is appreciated on the Ukrainian side, it is for her very clear political positions vis-à-vis the Russian invasion. From the outset, it declared itself against the war and “solidarity” with its “Ukrainian friends”. She does not hesitate, unlike many of her compatriots on the circuit, to speak to the Ukrainian players and assure them of her support. “I thank her for taking a stand, launched Elina Svitolina, two days before the match. That’s what I expect from other players and it’s very brave of him. »
The player hit by the whistles
Clearly opposed to Vladimir Putin, Kasatkina did not hesitate to disclosing their homosexuality last July, like a middle finger sent in the face of the Russian leader. Living in Spain with her partner, Russian-Estonian skater Natalia Zabiiako, she fell from the wardrobe when she heard the public whistle her copiously. She, who explained that she felt good in France since the start of the tournament, referring in particular to the “march of freedoms” that she was going to “support from (her) hotel and on the tennis courts”, did not understand the reaction of a public, a priori less aware of its courage than of the prices of Moët & Chandon in Roland.
“I leave Paris with a very bitter feeling. Every day, after every match I played in Paris, I always appreciated and thanked the public for their support. But yesterday I was booed for simply respecting my opponent’s position of not shaking his hand, she wrote on Twitter. Me and Elina showed respect after a tough game, but leaving the pitch like that was the worst part of my day. Be better, love each other. Don’t spread hate. Try to make this world a better place. I would love Roland-Garros no matter what, always and forever. See you next year ! » Class all the way.