Ukrainian tennis participant gained’t play Russian until excursions act

Top-seeded Elina Svitolina, a 27-year-old skilled tennis participant from Ukraine, says she is going to withdraw from the Monterrey Open slightly than face a Russian opponent on the Mexican event until tennis’s governing our bodies observe the International Olympic Committee’s lead and demand that gamers from Russia and Belarus are solely recognized as “neutral athletes.”

Svitolina wrote Monday on Twitter that she didn’t need to play her opening-round contest in opposition to Anastasia Potapova “nor any other match against Russian or Belarussian tennis players until” the WTA girls’s tour, ATP males’s tour and International Tennis Federation “follow the recommendations of the IOC” and bar these nations’ opponents from utilizing any nationwide symbols, colours, flags or anthems.

✊🏼🇺🇦 #Ukraine #Україна #StandWithUkriane pic.twitter.com/1LT4WjrYI9

— Elina Monfils (@ElinaSvitolina) February 28, 2022

The Russian army assault on Ukraine was into its fifth day.

“I do not blame any of the Russian athletes,” Svitolina wrote.

“They are not responsible for the invasion of our motherland.” Svitolina is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist with 16 profession tour-level singles titles who has been ranked as excessive as No. 3 and is at present No. 15.

Another tennis participant from Ukraine, 32-year-old Lesia Tsurenko, wrote on Twitter that she and others “would like to express our great surprise and dissatisfaction with the lack of any response to the situation with our Motherland.”

❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️@wta @WTA_insider @ATPMediaInfo @atptour @OlympicUA @olympicchannel @Olympics pic.twitter.com/Xee3xpak2r

— Lesia Tsurenko (@LTsurenko) February 28, 2022

Tsurenko, a quarterfinalist on the 2018 US Open who’s been ranked as excessive as No. 23 and is No. 127 this week, known as on the WTA to instantly condemn the Russian authorities.

The ITF mentioned it has canceled its occasions on Russian soil “indefinitely,” and no occasions could be scheduled in Belarus this 12 months. It additionally postponed an occasion scheduled for Ukraine in April, citing “heightened security concerns.”

“This is a fast-evolving situation. We are constantly monitoring events and remain in active discussion with the ITF tennis family, the ITF Board and security experts to decide and align around our next course of action. We stand united with the population of Ukraine,” the ITF mentioned in an announcement issued Monday.

“Right now, our priority remains the safety of all those participating in our events. We will of course be providing more information as soon as possible.” The WTA and ATP didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from The Associated Press.