The traditional group photograph for the WTA Finals was scrapped ahead of the tournament at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where tournament organizers published individual portraits instead of the usual gathered field of eight players, as BILD reported.
The change stems from Elina Svitolina refusing to pose alongside Russian and Belarusian competitors, according to BILD. The 32-year-old Ukrainian player has declined joint photo sessions involving 19-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva and 28-year-old Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka. The Women’s Tennis Association officially attributed the shift to a new visual concept titled Courtside Couture
designed to highlight individual personalities and styles, though media reports noted the underlying tension regarding player alignments, as tennisnet.com detailed.
WTA Finals Photo Scrapped Over Svitolina Posture
The adjustment breaks a longstanding tradition at the season-ending championships, where eight singles qualifiers normally gather for an official portrait. Instead of the collective image, the WTA released single-player portraits and smaller group compositions. The scheduling places Svitolina in the same round-robin group as Andreeva, Sabalenka, and Czech player Karolina Muchova, setting up high-profile clashes on the court.
The game is only part of the story ✨ The world’s best soak up Indian Wells at the #FAGEWTAFinals 🤩 pic.twitter.com/sSI3RkXMLx
Svitolina has maintained a strict stance since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, consistently avoiding post-match handshakes at the net with players from Russia and Belarus as a gesture of solidarity with her home country. Major tournament organizers, including the Australian Open, have routinely notified spectators in advance of matches involving Ukrainian players to prevent confusion and crowd disruption. Svitolina previously refused a handshake with Andreeva following her straight-sets victory in the fourth round at Melbourne Park in January.
Svitolina Faces Andreeva After Split and Emotional Toll
The tournament opener on November 9 brings an immediate meeting between Svitolina and Andreeva at the WTA Finals.
In mid-October, she announced her separation from husband Gaël Monfils after an eight-year relationship and five years of marriage. In statements reported by BILD, Svitolina discussed the emotional toll of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine:
Jeder weiß, wie viel mir die Ukraine bedeutet. Was ihr nicht gesehen habt, waren die schlaflosen Nächte, die Zweifel und das Gefühl, mich langsam selbst zu verlieren. Gael hat all das miterlebt. Er hat meine Hand nie losgelassen. Wir haben lange Zeit gemeinsam darum gekämpft, mit allem, was wir hatten. Aber manche Kämpfe finden tief in einem selbst statt, und keine noch so große Liebe eines anderen kann sie für einen gewinnen.
Tournament coverage surrounding the opening rounds also noted separate headlines involving Andreeva following a training court conversation with American player Jessica Pegula, where Pegula discussed the young Russian’s tour presence.
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