Ukrainian tennis star defies Russian presence at US Open

Former tennis world number three Elina Svitolina has said she disagrees with the US Open’s decision to allow Russian players to compete in the New York Grand Slam.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced its stance this week, consistent with that of the most recent major tournament, the French Open, but in contrast to the next on the calendar at Wimbledon, which has been stripped of ranking points by the ATP and WTA -Tours for men and women.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) decided to ban Russians this year in response to her country’s military operation in Svitolina’s home country of Ukraine, and the 27-year-old revealed she was hoping for a similar crackdown from the USTA.

“It’s their choice, they’ve chosen to take this path” you explained to Reuters from Geneva, Switzerland.

“I don’t support it because I feel like they should have taken more serious action.” she added before claiming there are “many, many factors that can play a role in the decision not to let Russian and Belarusian players compete”.

Svitolina also said she expects more support from the tennis federations and is totally opposed to the policy allowing Russian players to compete in the French Open and other tournaments under neutral status, adding that she was surprised at what she saw as the silence from you feel Russian colleagues.

“We couldn’t really understand why we didn’t get any support from them. I feel like it created some tension between us.” Svitolina confessed.

Svitolina, who is married to fellow pro Gael Monfils, is currently pregnant and announced that this will force her to take a break from tennis while she is currently ranked 40th in the WTA.

“Right now I feel like the last time I held the bat was 20 years ago,” confessed the bronze medalist in the singles of Tokyo 2020.

“I really want to compete in the Olympic Games (2024) in Paris. That is my goal. But that’s not the first thing I’m thinking about at the moment.” she then closed.

With the presence of Russian athletes such as defending men’s singles champion and world number one Daniil Medvedev, the US Open is set to begin on August 29.

However, in response to the USTA’s decision to allow them at the Flushing Meadows event, Ukraine’s Sports Minister Vadim Gutzeit announced that Ukrainian athletes are participating “are ready to block their performances and boycott such competitions”.