(Miami) The WTA will meet, at their request, the Ukrainian players to discuss their concerns related to the war in their country and the resulting tensions with their Russian and Belarusian opponents, the body announced on Friday to AFP .
“We received a request for a meeting between the players and the board of directors. The date of this meeting is under consideration and it will of course take place,” said a WTA spokesperson.
The day before, the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk had criticized the women’s circuit for ignoring this request. “We wanted a meeting with the board (of the WTA) and we didn’t get it. No answer, nothing, just silence, ”she assured.
“This is not the first request that has been made to us and we have organized a meeting each time,” replied the WTA.
Kostyuk declined to discuss the issues she and her compatriots wish to raise. “Before a meeting can take place, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about it,” she said.
In Miami, the chance of the draw had placed her on the same road as the Russian Anastasia Potapova, who won 6-1, 6-3 Thursday at 2e round at the end of a match which took place without incident, but which ended without a handshake between the two players.
Potapova angered Ukrainian players last week in Indian Wells by entering the court wearing a Spartak Moscow soccer jersey. This was seen as a sign of support for his country in the current dispute and earned him a formal warning from the WTA.
In recent weeks the tension has continued to rise in the locker room between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players.
At the start of the week, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world No.2, thus claimed to feel “hate” in the locker room, evoking without giving details of a clash with a Ukrainian coach.
Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who was to face Sabalenka in Indian Wells, gave up taking part in the match, explaining afterwards that she had suffered a “panic attack” following a conversation with the boss of the circuit on the consequences of the Russian invasion of his country.
