DThe US Open will not officially start until next Monday, but have already had their first success and the first scandal at the same time. The American tennis association and tournament organizer USTA collected 1.2 million dollars (1.2 million euros) on Wednesday to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invaders.
But behind the scenes of the benefit event in New York, things were by no means as peaceful as the name “Tennis Plays for Peace Exhibition” suggests. Instead of the 21 professionals – including Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Iga Swiatek and some from Ukraine – 22 should have competed in Flushing Meadow.
Complaint by Ukrainian women
But the Belarusian Viktoria Asarenka had to forego the planned participation. Ukrainian professional colleagues had complained about being on the pitch together with a representative of a Russia ally on their fatherland’s Independence Day.
So the two-time Grand Slam tournament winner and former world number one withdrew after “careful consideration and a dialogue with everyone involved,” according to the USTA. “Given the sensitivities towards Ukrainian players and the ongoing conflict, we believe this is the right course of action for us,” the tennis federation said in a statement.
But one guesses that the 33-year-old wanted to take part in the campaign in favor of Ukraine. Azarenka, who was temporarily close to the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko, commented on the process via Twitter: “One should never take the impact of a kind gesture for granted.”
