Tennis, Iga Swiatek against Russians and Belarusians in the ATP and WTA circuits

The WTA locker room continues to be incandescent, and the new words of world number one Iga Swiatek on the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes will certainly not help détente. The Polish woman, very close to the Ukrainians and already quite decisive and clear on the subject in the past, reiterated the concept to the BBC, going down even harder.

swiatek’s words

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“Tennis could have done better from the start”, also in light of the step backwards at Wimbledon. “Since the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion, players from Russia and Belarus have been allowed to play tournaments albeit as neutrals, the only exception being the London Slam which, however, from the next edition, will adapt to the rest of the circuit,” he said the number one in the world, who then compared the current situation to the Second World War. “I heard that in the post-war period German players weren’t allowed to play, as well as Italian and Japanese ones, and I feel that something like this would have made the Russian government understand that maybe it wasn’t worth it,” the Pole said. I know it’s a small thing, because we’re just athletes, but sport is quite important, it’s always been used for propaganda. But this was something that should have been considered at the beginning and instead tennis hasn’t taken this path. Doing it now would be quite unfair to the Russian and Belarusian players because it was a decision that should have been made a year ago. Tennis from the beginning could have done a little better by showing everyone that we are against the war”.

swiatek vs wta

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Swiatek points the finger at the ATP and WTA, believing that more could have been done, “they could have helped us better manage the situation in the locker room where the atmosphere is quite tense”. The Pole then reveals that she shook hands with Daria Kasatkina because she “openly said from the beginning that she was against the war and that she dreamed of an end to the conflict. I really respect her because I think it’s brave of Russian athletes to come out because their situation is quite complicated and sometimes it’s difficult for them to talk about it out loud.”