The tennis player was hunted down for playing with a Russian woman. And forced to repent

Russian tennis players are allowed to compete in international tournaments, but with many reservations. However, foreigners dealing with our athletes also get it.

The Norwegian tennis player was forced to apologize for playing Wimbledon with a Russian woman.

“Should have thought before”

At the 2023 Wimbledon tournament, Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri paired with Russian Alexandra Panova in two matches. In the first round, the tennis players outplayed the Czech-Kazakh duo Frukhvirtov-Putintsev in three sets, in the second round in two sets they lost to the Georgian-Belarusian pair Kalashnikov-Shymanovich. At this, the tandem broke up.

Performances paired with a Russian woman did not go painlessly for Akeri. At home, she was criticized for choosing a partner. NRK columnist Petter Saltvedt was especially hard at work.

This choice cannot be justified. This is just ignorance,” Saltvedt wrote in the column.

Seeing the public reaction, Akery was quick to apologize for something that was completely not her fault. However, there is nothing to be surprised here.

– I’m really sorry. Looking back, I understand that I should have thought about this earlier, but, unfortunately, I did not. I really regret my choice, — quotes the words of Akeri SVT.

Such words seem extremely illogical. After all, Akeri had played Panova in two more tournaments before that – and everything was fine. But you can understand the Norwegian: she just took the path of least resistance.

“Witch-hunt”

Panova after Wimbledon has already managed to play with the Dutch Bibiana Schoofs. Also this year, the Russian woman entered the courts in pairs with representatives of the Czech Republic, Japan, the USA, Mexico, Montenegro, Great Britain, Georgia and Serbia. At the same time, no such excesses were observed. I wonder if Akery’s apology will start a new trend?

Photo: © Julian Finney / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

I am glad that even in Norway there were those who considered what happened to the tennis player to be sheer nonsense. The fourth racket of the world Kasper Ruud supported the hunted compatriot.

– The Russians were allowed to play at Wimbledon, so I don’t see a problem here. In my opinion, it is silly to talk about it now. This is a witch hunt, – quotes the tennis player NRK.

I would like to believe that what happened will not affect the desire of tennis players from other countries to play in pairs with the Russians. In terms of attitudes towards Russia, the world of tennis is perhaps the healthiest environment at the moment. And it will be a shame if that changes.