Wimbledon semifinalist Marta Kostyuk slams IOC decision on Russia - ESPN

After advancing to her first Wimbledon semifinal Wednesday, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk slammed the International Olympic Committee's decision to provisionally lift its ban on Russia and recommend that individual sports drop the neutral status for athletes.

Like in most sports, Russian players have competed as neutrals on the men's and women's tennis tours since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out in 2022. The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed the IOC's decision as an «important step» toward reinstating the rights of Russian athletes.

Kostyuk had a different take.

«My thoughts are that it's terrible,» Kostyuk said after her quarterfinal win over Jasmine Paolini. «I think it's very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine. I 100% don't agree with this decision.… I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics.»

There are no Russian singles players left in the Wimbledon tournament. Kostyuk will face Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday. In the other semifinal, American Coco Gauff takes on another Czech player in Karolina Muchova.

The 12th-seeded Kostyuk is into her second straight Grand Slam semifinal after losing to Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in the last four at the French Open. The two did not shake hands before that match, which has become the standard procedure for meetings between Russian and Ukrainian players.

As Kostyuk played on Centre Court on Wednesday, her compatriots in Ukraine were dealing with another deadly attack by Russia on Kyiv. It's been the same for much of Kostyuk's run to the semifinals.

On Monday, after Russian missiles struck residential buildings close to where Kostyuk's parents