Ukrainian tennis player won’t play Russian unless tours act

Tennis
By Aman Shukla
Image source: sports.nbcsports.com

Top-seeded Elina Svitolina, a 27-year-old professional tennis player from Ukraine, says she will back off from the Monterrey Open rather than play against Russian opponent at the Mexican tournament unless if tennis’ governing bodies follow the International Olympic Committee’s lead and demand that players from Russia and Belarus are only identified as “neutral athletes.”

“I want to announce that I will not play in Monterrey, nor any other match, against Russian or Belarusian tennis players until our organizations 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.”

Another tennis player from Ukraine, 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.”

Aman Shukla 1241 posts

Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication. A media enthusiast who has a stronghold on communication, content writing, and copy writing. Aman is currently working as a subeditor at dailyindianews.com and can be reached at [email protected]

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