CNN
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From every game in Europe football to visit UFC – had to contend with its decline Russia’s invasion of Ukraine And tennis No exception
Since the outbreak of war, Russian and Belarusian players have continued to play in tournaments and Grand Slams but must do so as neutrals without displaying their flag or country.
The only exception has been WimbledonThat banned players from the two countries last year – although the ATP and WTA Tours responded by stripping the tournament of ranking points.
The governing body of both men’s and women’s tours said That they oppose “discrimination” against players based on nationality.
Wimbledon, which rejected That its ban was discriminatory, has since said It will accept entries from Russians and Belarusians This year, as long as players compete as neutrals and do not express support for war.
Players who receive funding from the Russian or Belarusian states will also not be allowed to compete, including receiving sponsorship from organizations managed or controlled by those states.
In April, Wimbledon organizers said they would cover the cost of all main draws and two rooms for qualifying players in Ukraine for the entire grass court season – a move that was praised by Russian players. Daria Kasatkina.
“[Ukrainian players] Can’t go back home, they always have to be on the street and always have to pay for their housing, so I think it makes a lot of sense,” said Kasatkina, according to the BBC.
For some Ukrainian players, facing opponents from Russia and Belarus is a disappointment.
World No. 39 Marta Kostyukwho hails from Kiev, said earlier in the year that he would not shake hands with Russian or Belarusian players during the war in his country.
She was scolded when she refused to meet Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus at the net at the French Open, while Sabalenka condemned the scolding and said she understood why Ukrainian players would not shake her hand.
“About war situations, I have said many times, nobody in this world – Russian athletes, Belarusian athletes – supports war, nobody,” Sabalenka said after her first-round victory over Kostyuk. “How can we support war? Common people will never support it.”
Ukrainian player Lesia Surenko refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents after the match.
She withdrew from her third-round match against Sabalenka at Indian Wells in March for “personal reasons” – prompting calls for more support for Ukrainian players on the WTA Tour.
“Honestly, I have a lot of respect for the Ukrainian girls because, if a bomb fell in my country or my house was destroyed, I don’t know if I would be able to handle it,” said the world no. Iga Swiatek Shortly after Surenko’s withdrawal from the tournament was announced, Russian world no.2 Daniil Medvedev Says that he “feels[s] Sorry for all the Ukrainian players and what they went through.”
At the time, the WTA Tour said it “has consistently reflected our full support for Ukraine and strongly condemned the actions taken by the Russian government.”
After his first-round win at the French Open, Surenko, who was born in Vladimir and moved to Kiev as a teenager, spoke of his grief since the war began.
“Yesterday, parts of a rocket landed 100 meters from my house,” he told reporters. “It can make me unhappy, you know, and maybe, just because my face isn’t very happy. Not because I go into the locker room and I’m spewing hate on somebody.”
Tsurenko appeared Comment hint Sabalenka did at the Miami Open in March, where the world No. 2 said she struggled to understand the “hate” she faced in the locker room amid strained relations with some players following the Russian attack.
A number of players – including Poland’s Switek, Slovakia’s Anna-Karolina Smydlova and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina – have donned Ukraine’s blue and yellow at the tournament.
Svitolina, a former world No. 3 and Ukraine’s most decorated player, donated her winnings from the Internationale de Strasbourg in May to humanitarian aid for children in her country and is part of Reconstruction of Ukraine programwhich collects funds for the restoration of war-damaged residential buildings.
The 28-year-old Russian stopped playing shortly after the attack and returned to competitive tennis earlier this year after the birth of her first child.
When asked about the post-match incident between Kostyuk and Sabalenka, Svitolina told reporters that there was “a lot of rubbish” going on that distracted from “the main point of what was happening”.
He added: “A lot of Ukrainian people need help and support and we are focusing on a lot of things, like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation.”
The presence of Russian flags and symbols at tennis tournaments has caused controversy.
The WTA has “formally warned” the Russian player Anastasia Potapova For wearing a Spartak Moscow football jersey before a match in Indian Wells this year, calling it “not an acceptable or appropriate move.”
Two months before the Australian Open, organizers banned Russian and Belarusian flags from Melbourne Park after some fans displayed Russian flags at matches.
Srijan DjokovicFather of Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, He came under scrutiny at the tournament when he posed for photos with a man wearing a “Z” symbol on his shirt and carrying a Russian flag with President Vladimir Putin’s face on it.
The “Z” symbol is seen as a sign of support for Russia, including its aggression in Ukraine. It has been seen on Russian equipment and clothing in Ukraine.
Kostyuk, 20, is perhaps the most outspoken player on the Russian invasion of his country. Last year, he told CNN Sport Russian and Belarusian players have a responsibility to take a stand against the war.
“Everybody has a choice to make,” Kostyuk said. “There are a bunch of tennis players who have the wealth to take their families out of the country [Russia]. And yet they are not doing it. Why? I don’t know.”
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