DailyExpertNews
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The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has “formally warned” Russian tennis player Anastasia Potapova after she wore a Spartak Moscow soccer jersey ahead of her match against American Jessica Pegula in Indian Wells, a spokesperson told DailyExpertNews on Thursday.
World No. 1 Iga Świątek was critical of the WTA for allowing Potapova to wear the shirt, saying on Tuesday that “more needs to be done to help Ukrainian players because everything we discuss in tennis is about Belarusian and Russian players.”
Potopova has been pictured wearing the shirt on several occasions, including in Dubai in a photo she posted to her own Instagram account.
In an email to DailyExpertNews, WTA spokesperson Amy Binder said: “With regard to the shirt of the Russian football team, the WTA has formally warned the player that this was not acceptable nor was it appropriate action.
“We don’t expect this to happen again in the future.”
Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko was scheduled to face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells in California but did not go to court on Monday, with Reuters news agency reporting that Tsurenko had withdrawn for personal reasons.
When asked about Tsurenko at her post-match press conference on Tuesday, 21-year-old Polish star Świątek said: “I totally understand why she pulled out, because I honestly have so much respect for the Ukrainian girls, because if there was a bomb in my country or if my house was destroyed, I don’t know if I could handle it.”
When asked about Świątek’s comments on Wednesday, Russian Daniil Medvedev said he felt sorry for Ukrainian players fighting as the war rages in their homeland.
The winner of the 2021 US Open added: “The situation with Tsurenko I certainly don’t know in detail. It’s more for her and maybe a little bit (for) Sabalenka to answer, because I didn’t really know this until the next day.
“Of course we have a responsibility (to talk about the issue) and it depends on how each person, individually, deals with it.
“I’ve always said the same thing, I’m for peace all over the world and that’s all I can say.”
According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), at least 8,231 civilians were killed and 13,734 injured as of March 12 in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 last year.
The OHCHR said it believes the actual figures are “significantly higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities were underway has been delayed and many reports are still awaiting confirmation”.
