Russian, Belarusian athletes should have been banned from the start: Iga Swiatek

Iga Swiatek, World No 1 in women’s tennis, believes a complete ban on Russian and Belarusian players would have sent a strong message. Instead, the players were allowed to compete on ATP and WTA Tours as neutrals with their flags and references to nation removed. The exceptions came in the form of a ban from team events (Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup) and Wimbledon. The grass court major banned players from both countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wimbledon has now reversed its decision for the 2023 tournament after backlash and repercussions from the men's and women's governing bodies (ATP and WTA respectively). Poland’s Swiatek, who has publicly supported Ukraine’s cause, believes tennis could have done better “from the beginning.” “I heard that after World War Two, German players were not allowed as well as Japanese and Italian, and I feel like this kind of thing would show the Russian government that maybe it’s not worth it,” the 21-year-old told the BBC. “I know it’s a small thing because we are just athletes, a little piece in the world but I feel like sport is pretty important and sport has always been used in propaganda. “This is something that was considered at the beginning, tennis didn’t really go that way, but now it would be pretty unfair for Russian and Belarusian players to do that because this decision was supposed to be made a year ago.” Swiatek said she has players “approaching” her for help and advice on the matter. She added there has been a “lack of leadership” from WTA and ATP since the war which has made things chaotic. “I feel like tennis, from the beginning, could do a bit better in showing everybody that tennis players are against the war,” Swiatek said. “I feel they could do more to make that point and tell their views, and help us cope a bit better in the locker room because the atmosphere there is pretty tense.” Russian and Belarusian such as Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, Andrey Rublev have rued that they are victims through this all as well. Of them, Swiatek said, “It’s not their fault they have a passport like that but, on the other hand, we all have some kind of impact and I feel like anything that would help stop the Russian aggression, we should go that way in terms of the decisions the federations are making. “It’s easy to say that but when you’re facing people face to face it’s a little bit different. I did shake hands, for example, with Daria Kasatkina - she openly said that she’s against the war at the beginning and it would be her dream for the war to finish. “I really respect that because I feel it’s brave for Russian athletes to say that because their situation is pretty complicated and sometimes it’s hard for them to speak out loud about it.” Earlier, Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, too, had said the WTA should have done more for players from her country. It came weeks after Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko pulled out from Indian Wells tournament before facing Sabalenka. She later claimed the reason was a panic attack brought on by a conversation with WTA chief executive Steve Simon about tennis’s response to the Russian invasion. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.