Tennis – Switzerland suggests Russia cheated

“They played amazing tennis and we have to accept that. We are here to talk about something that has nothing to do with tennis. And I find that sad. ” At the heart of the press conference, after the defeat of Switzerland in the final of the Billie Jean King Cup, Jil Teichmann had like a desire to put the church back in the middle of the village and to give back to Russia what it has gone to. look on the court: her fifth title of world champion among women.

Because during the post-match meeting with the journalists, there was a lot of talk about the left knee injury ofAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian leader, the best ranked player (12th) in the selection of Igor Andreev, was announced forfeit at 3:39 p.m., twenty minutes before the start of the final. Belinda Bencic, who expected to fight him and who had therefore prepared accordingly, then saw the name of Liudmila Samsonova register in front of his. It’s easy to imagine her pout, knowing that the 22-year-old Russian, 40th player, had beaten her twice since the start of the year… “Has this late change affected me? It’s hard to answer. To be honest I think it was ugly. I’m so disappointed. I left my heart for Switzerland on the ground, like my partners. I think we deserved to win and I hope the karma of sport will pay it back to us one day. We will fight for that. ”

From the outset on the issue of the Pavlyuchenkova, the Swiss captain Heinz Günthardt said, all in nuance and restraint, what he had on his heart. “Maybe some think it was smart of Russia, but it’s impossible. Either she hurt herself on her own, and that would mean it’s bad luck, or they did it on purpose, and that’s cheating. It’s not smart. I find it a bit unfortunate because the tournament has been going so far in a very good state of mind. If you’re beaten by a better team that’s fine, but there’s a slight hint here. It’s been manipulated a bit, so it hurts more. But hey, maybe she got really hurt. You have to put the question to Russia. ”

When asked, Igor Andreev, the Russian captain, replied this. “Anastasia wanted to play but warming up (editor’s note: Saturday, early afternoon), she felt she couldn’t give 100%. So we decided to change the nominations for the final. ” Before giving the floor to Pavlyuchenkova. “I have had to deal with persistent pain in my knee for a very long time. I saw that I couldn’t give it my all, that I just couldn’t serve. ” Asked about the precise timing of the injury by a German colleague, Igor Andreev saw his player Veronika Kudermetova fly to his aid. “He made this change after the day’s warm-up, not Friday,” she said.

The rule, set up during the Fed Cup time, has undoubtedly worked in Russia’s favor. “If an athlete is injured at the last minute, you have to be able to replace him. But if someone abuses the rule, you need to take a closer look. The problem is this independent doctor who has to check that the person has hurt himself now and not later. It’s almost impossible to verify that someone was injured twenty minutes before the meeting, explained again Heinz Günthardt, which gave a start to the track to avoid a “suspicion” of this type in the future. The No. 2 could replace the top ranked player. Not # 4 or # 5 just because you know she plays better against the opposing player. “

Although frustrated, the Swiss captain did not forget to congratulate Russia. “It was the best team today (editor’s note: Saturday), they played really well. ” The last word for Jil Teichmann. “At the moment, it’s hard for us. We just lost against a great team, but we still have this little doubt and that’s what hurts us. Because we are not like that. We all cried, but I’m sure in an hour or tomorrow (editor’s note: Sunday), we will all be very proud of our career. ”