Coach of Ukrainian tennis player Lesya Tsurenko Nikita Vlasov He commented on the words of Arina Sobolenko, the world’s second racket from Belarus, after Tsurenko’s refusal to go to the match at Indian Wells, and also talked about how WTA “helped” the Ukrainian tennis players:

– Arina Sobolenko, commenting on Lesia’s refusal to play against her after the semi-final match at Indian Wells, said it was more than a political situation or a panic attack, and then stated that she was problematic. The situation with you in the past, and according to her, this again influenced Lesya’s decision. Could you comment on her words and tell them what is the situation between you and would you advise Lesia not to play this match?

– Most importantly, when I recalled the terrible incident with Tsurenko in Sobolenko’s comments, I was surprised that he never regained his health and did not wish for a speedy recovery. He did not express that he hoped everything was fine with Lesya. And I did not condemn the words of Steve Simon, and the whole situation in principle … after all, a situation where the head of the company, a person, brought a girl who was already there by her words and position. Suffering from panic attack due to war, this is just something from a horror movie.

At the beginning of the war, when Kiev was fired by missiles from the territory of Belarus, Russian propaganda did what Sobolenko did in his comment … Russians and Belarusians said that it was the Ukrainians who bombed their capital. Same here… coach Tsurenko put pressure on Tsurenko… nothing new was invented… It’s just an attempt to divert focus from the situation, nothing more. I will gladly review the discussion and answer all questions, but only after the situation is resolved.

I agree with Sobolenko that the problem is much bigger than a panic attack, because panic attacks are the results of the actions of a particular person, even the WTA, and this will need to be resolved. Because when the head of an organization says it’s okay to be surrounded by people who support the occupation of your country, support murder and rape, looting and kidnapping, and that such people just have their own opinion and shouldn’t be punished for this and this is WTA policy and they will stick to it… it when the problem is much bigger than a panic attack…

– According to Sobolenko, WTA does its job well and supports both sides equally. As a player representative, is it possible to compare this support? And what exactly can be attributed to the equivalent support of both sides, as Sobolenko said?

– You know, if you strictly follow all the interviews last year, then only Steve Simon and Russian and Belarusian players say that the WTA supports the Ukrainians and does a lot for them. Frankly, I declare that over the past year, WTA has not initiated any conversations with Ukrainian players, online or offline. Players spent hundreds of hours in WTA offices this year, but in any case, the Ukrainians were the initiators.

WTA representatives did not once ask if the Ukrainian players had any problems or needed anything, whether the organization could somehow provide help and support. And for some reason even the world’s first racket sees it, but the WTA CEO does not. After the Miami Open last year, when Tsurenko had nowhere to go after the tournament, she shared her feelings on Twitter… and you know… Steve Simon wrote to her – “I’m sure there are many in the world who would be happy to help you out. people”… It was a shock… but he was right, there are a lot of really good people in the world responding… but unfortunately not WTA.

All WTA really did to support the Ukrainians was to place a large blue/yellow flag vase in the office so players could hug them and express their support to us. Well, they also changed the logo on their website – I want to personally thank you for this, it was very helpful.

While the Russian and Belarusian players continue to live a normal life, the Ukrainians endure the hardships and horrors of the war that Russia and Belarus have come to us. We are certainly not on equal footing with them and this is clearly a violation of fair play and equal playing field. But WTA chief Steve Simon doesn’t think so. If Sobolenko believes that the WTA’s job is to protect the representatives of the aggressive countries that support the armed attack against our state, then yes, he is a superprofessional…

– Enough time has passed since Lesya talked about the panic attack caused by her conversation with the head of the WTA. A zoom call was requested from the WTA Governing Body, she said. Has there been any feedback from WTA regarding this situation and will the zoom call actually happen?

– You know, it is interesting that the zoom was requested the day after the conversation between Tsurenko and Simon. All Ukrainians were in shock… Elina, Marta, Dayana, Kichenok brothers, I don’t remember who else, immediately expressed their support and intention to attend the meeting. I’m sorry if I forgot one, then it was just a stunner, I just didn’t want to believe what had happened. However, no information or e-mail regarding the meeting or meeting has been received so far. Maybe something has changed or will change at the time of publication, but at the moment this is such information.