Elina Svitolina says Ukrainian tennis players feel ‘scared and empty’, believing that the “WTA is useless” and should have done more. In Indian Wells, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko said a conversation with WTA chief executive Steve Simon sparked a panic attack.
As a result, Tsurenko was forced to forfeit her Indian Wells third round match against Belarusian tennis star Aryna Sabalenka. “He told me that he does not support the war, but if the Russian and Belarusian players support it, it is only their own opinion, and the opinion of others should not disturb me” , said Tsurenko.
Svitolina on Tsurenko’s situation and the lack of WTA support.
“We are afraid, we feel empty. What is happening to Lesia is very sad. People who haven’t been through it can’t quite understand what it feels like to have no home, nowhere to feel safe, nowhere to have family in Ukraine, under bombs, when we know that the Ukrainian cities are destroyed.
It is both fear and a great void. The WTA should have done more, much more, on many topics. Today it is too late. There were a lot of press releases, a lot of interviews.
It was useless,” Svitolina told L’Equipe. Recently, the IOC revealed its intention to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Svitolina, who returned to tennis this week, admitted that it was not up to her to handle this situation. “I do not think about it. It’s up to the Olympic Committee and the Ukrainian Committee to think about it and do their job!
My job as a player is to prepare to play,” Svitolina said. This week, Svitolina played her first game in 13 months as she returned from maternity leave in Charleston.
After suffering a first-round loss in Charleston, Svitolina is set to take part in next week’s ITF tournament in Chiasso.
