Ukraine’s former first racket Elina Svitolina He described how, for the first time after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Ukrainian tennis players tried to expel players from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

“In the first days of a large-scale invasion, it was very difficult to understand what to do, how to act. Of course, at that moment we expected some kind of communication from the sports authorities – FTU, Ministry of Sports, NOC – but there was none and we had to act independently, argue, according to our feelings. The steps in the chat we created in the early days.

We tried to convince the WTA leadership that players from Russia and Belarus should be banned immediately. We were in the office, we met face to face. However, when a player from Russia becomes the first racket in the ATP tour a few days later, you realize that it is extremely difficult to do something. Who would dare to ban it? And WTA did not dare to take this step alone.

We’ve written countless letters, held conference calls, talked to the management of the Tours, the ITF and all Slams – you know the result. We were talking about financial aid for Ukrainian players who need it most. I know that Lesya Tsurenko accompanied this issue and successfully brought it to an end. In fact, a lot of strength and nerves were spent on this fight, and it is very strange for me to hear such opinions, as it turns out that Ukrainian tennis players do not show their positions.

It seems to me that if we compare the number of our actions with the actions of national sports organizations, which should try, first of all, to protect tennis players, then the picture will not be very pleasant for them. After all, none of the tennis players were ready for the fact that you had to write requests, prepare presentations and texts to persuade tennis constructs. But in the end we succeeded without any help and support from Ukraine.

At the same time, it is a bit strange to say that Ukrainian players should not play matches against Russians, since almost a year has passed, and we still have not seen a unified position from FTU or NOC, what should we do? tennis players? You have to understand that ATP and WTA are professional builds and players are relatively hired employees. If an employee does not go to work, they do not receive a salary and can be fined. That’s how it works in tennis. Therefore, I repeat: to take such steps without the support of national sports leaders, without a single position – this will not have any repercussions and will not lead to any consequences, ”said Svitolina.