Ukraine Tennis Player, Elina Svitolina, Refuses To Face Russian Athletes At The Monterrey Open

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina. (Instagram/@elisvitolina)

JAKARTA – Ukrainian tennis player, Elina Svitolina, refuses to play against Russian tennis player, Anastasia Potapova, in the round of 32 at the Monterrey Open. This is a form of resistance to the Russian invasion of the country.

Svitolina hopes that the World Tennis Federation will implement the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russian and Belarusian players from playing in sports tournaments.

Earlier, the IOC executive said on Friday, February 25, the Russian and Belarusian national flags would not be allowed to fly in international sporting events as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I would like to announce that I will not be playing tomorrow in Monterrey or any other matches against players of Russia or Belarusian until our organization takes the necessary decisions", Svitolina said, quoted by Antara from Reuters.

On Sunday, February 27, the Ukrainian Tennis Federation urged the sports governing body of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to immediately expel Russia and Belarus from the organization, as well as ban Russia from the team and individual tournaments.

The day after, the IOC's executive board took things a step further. The IOC recommended that sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events.

Although the World Tennis Federation has not yet issued their latest statement, Svitolina has already expressed her position by refusing to compete in the tournament she is currently participating in. She asked tennis bodies to follow the recommendations of the IOC.

"We Ukrainian tennis players ask the ATP, WTA and ITF to follow the IOC's recommendations by accepting Russian or Belarusian nationals only as neutral athletes without displaying any symbols, colors, flag or national anthem", she said.

Other Ukrainian women, such as Marta Kostyuk and Lesia Tsurenko, have also asked the WTA to withdraw all tournaments from Russia.

Athletes from Ukraine and other countries have urged international bodies to take action after Russia launched its invasion by land, air, and sea last week, which was preceded by President Vladimir Putin's declaration of war.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation", which aims not to occupy territory, but only to target Ukraine's military capabilities and capture nationalist political figures.