The top-ranked Ukrainian woman tennis player Elina Svitolina on Monday said she would refuse to play Russian and Belarusian tennis players in tournaments. She also criticised the governing bodies of tennis, shortly after two of her compatriots aimed a swing at the WTA when they criticised the organisation for not taking a position on the Russian invasion of their country.
Svitolina, ranked 15th in the world, is the top seed in the WTA tournament in Monterrey where she is drawn to play Russian Anastasia Potapova in her first match. Two other Russians, Kamilla Rakhimova and Anna Kalinskaya, are also in the draw. “I want to announce that I will not play in Monterrey, nor any other match, against Russian or Belarusian tennis players until our organisations take the necessary actions,” Svitolina wrote on Twitter.
“I do not blame Russian athletes,” she wrote. “I wish to pay tribute to all players, especially Russians and Belarusians, who bravely stated their position against the war. Their support is essential.” But, she wrote, the governing bodies of men’s (ATP), women’s and international (ITF) tennis needed to act.
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