AN EXPLOSIVE tennis row has erupted with the world No1 and No2 accused of having “higher levels of testosterone”.
Marta Kostyuk made the controversial claims in a bombshell interview.
The Ukrainian, ranked 27th in the world, took aim at Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
She suggested that the top two stars in women’s tennis are at a “biological” advantage because they are “much bigger” and “much stronger”.
That is despite Kostyuk and Swiatek, 24, both being 5ft 9ins – and Sabalenka, 27, measuring in two inches taller.
Meanwhile, the next four players in the rankings are Coco Gauff at 5ft 9ins, Amanda Anisimova at 5ft 11ins, Jessica Pegula who is 5ft 7ins and 5ft 4ins Jasmine Paolini.
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But Kostyuk, 23, bizarrely reckons it is an unfair battle to face Sabalenka or Swiatek on the court – against whom she has a combined 0-7 record – but presented no evidence or a valid basis for her inflammatory “testosterone” assertion.
She told Tennis 365: “Against Iga, when I have played her, I wasn’t ready to play her at all. I played her over a year ago and she was very strong.
“With Aryna, I know it is a tough battle. I have my own skills, but at the end of the day, they are all much bigger than me, much taller than me, much stronger than me.
“We all have our own biological structure.
“Some have a higher level of testosterone, some have lower. It’s just natural and that definitely helps.
“I feel smaller than them. I try to see how I can beat these players with the tennis skills I have, but I have to work harder to win the points. I have to run a lot more than them to win points.
“I cannot make myself 10kgs bigger or five centimetres taller, so I have to use everything I had at 100 per cent.
“For other players, they have more of an advantage in other things. This is just the way I am.
“I look at the photos when we shake hands at the net and I look so much smaller than some of my opponents.
“It’s just part of the sport and a very cool challenge for me to take on these players.
“There are many, many things I can do to be better, but they have an advantage on me.”
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Swiatek won Wimbledon this year for his sixth Major while hard-hitting Sabalenka is on four – two apiece at the Australian Open and US Open.
The Belarusian, though, did lose two finals this year, including to Gauff at the French Open.
But after winning the US Open and losing in the semis of Wuhan in China, Sabalenka is enjoying some downtime before the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh get underway on November 1.
She headed to Dubai with “bestie” and fellow tennis ace Paula Badosa.
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And she appeared to hit back at Kostyuk’s testosterone comments – by posting glamorous bikini pictures from the £1,000-a-night five-star Atlantis the Royal resort.
Sabalenka wrote on Instagram: “Much needed girl’s day with my bestie.”
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