PARIS — At first, Aryna Sabalenka thought the jeering boos and whistles coming from the French Open the crowd turned to her after a first round win on Sunday. Instead, her backlash was directed at her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, for not participating in the usual post-match handshake over the net.

Kostik, who is from ukraineshe avoided any eye contact with Sabalenka, who is from Belarus, after the match, instead walking directly to the chair umpire. Sabalenka walked towards the net as if he expected some kind of exchange.

but this is something Kostyuk has been doing every time he has faced an opponent from Russia or Belarus since his country was invaded by Russia, with help from Belarus, in February 2022.

Perhaps the fans present on court Philippe Chatrier were unaware of the backstory and thought that Kostyuk simply did not follow tennis etiquette in congratulating the winner after the lopsided result: Sabalenka won six games in a row during one stretch and went on top 6- 3, 6-2.

“It was a very tough match, I would say emotionally tough,” said Sabalenka, the No.2 seed, who won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.

During an on-court interview in the main stadium, Sabalenka told viewers she was sure their taunts “were against me, so I was a bit surprised, but then I felt their support.”

Before Day 1 of the clay-court tournament began, the players did not pose together for the standard photos on the net after the coin toss to determine who would serve first.

Kostyuk, a 20-year-old ranked 39th, won her first WTA title in March in Austin, Texas, beating a Russian opponent with neither player going to the net that day.

During her pre-tournament press conference on Friday, Sabalenka was asked about the likelihood of there not being a handshake on Sunday.

“If she hates me, that’s fine. I can’t do anything about it. There will be people who love me, there will be people who hate me,” Sabalenka said then. “If she hates me, I don’t feel any of that (towards) her.”