According to a transcript shared by @ukrtennis_en Twitter profile, Lesia Tsurenko, Marta Kostyuk and Elina Svitolina had an online meeting with the WTA, explaining how the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes prevents them from doing their job in peace. The WTA has firmly stood by the stance that there’s no place for discrimination based on nationality, and even fined Wimbledon for not allowing Russians/Belarusians to enter last year, but Ukrainian players consider that they are the ones being discriminated in this situation.
New mom Elina Svitolina, who has returned to competition this week, focused on Anastasia Gasanova’s “repeating Russia’s propaganda narratives about the war” and asked the WTA, “Is this even normal, is it fine for the WTA that such a person stays on the Tour?” The former world No.3 concluded: “If the Russians and Belarusians on the Tour support or justify military aggression in the same way as Gasanova, it means that they wish Ukrainians, our relatives, our friends and ultimately us to be dead.”
Lesia Tsurenko demanded answers: “What have you done, are doing and plan to do to prevent discrimination…
