After Chatting With WTA Boss, Ukrainian Tennis Players Get Mental And Withdraw From Indian Wells

Ukrainian tennis player, Lesia Tsurenko. (Photo: Twitter/@LTsureenko)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian tennis player, Lesia Tsurenko, experienced panic attacks and mental disorders after chatting with the Chief Executive of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), Steve Simon. How come?

The two discussed the Russian invasion of their country. Lesia got a pretty surprising answer in the chat. He then decided to resign for the 1000 Indian Wells Masters 1000 tennis event which is currently underway.

Tsurenko was supposed to face Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in the third round on Sunday. However, Simon's answer turned out to change everything.

"A few days ago, I spoke with WTA CEO Steve Simon and I was really surprised by what I heard," Tsurenko said on the Big Tennis Ukrainian website, quoted by The Guardian.

In the chat Simon firmly said he did not support the occurrence of war at all. However, if there are Russian or Belarusian players who support war, it is just a personal opinion.

Simon also asked Tsurenko not to be angry with the personal opinion of one person. At the same time he also said that if this happened to him and he was in Tsurenko's position then he would definitely feel bad.

Tsurenko's comments came as organizers of Grand Slam Wimbledon and the International Olympic Committee planned to lift their ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

"He expressed confidence that Russia and Belarus would return to the Olympics and said it would happen exactly as it did in tennis," Tsurenko continued.

"He also said that the principles of fair play and Olympics were not violated, but vice versa. When asked if he understood what he told me during the active phase of Russian military aggression in my country, he said: yes. And that is his opinion," he continued.

Tsurenko added that he and his fellow Ukrainian tennis players who were now aware of the contents of the conversation began to question Simon's position.

"Everyone was also shocked. We asked for a conference with the WTA board of directors to ask questions about how someone like Steve Simon could be a leader in the WTA and what we should do," he said.

"How can we understand further that our organization somehow protects our rights. I just don't understand how this can happen in this world so things like that need to be explained. This is very surprising and very painful," he added.

What Tsurenko said has been responded to by the WTA. In a statement they said, "First and foremost, we recognize the emotions that Lesia and all Ukrainian tennis athletes have. We are witnessing an ongoing terrible war that continues to bring unexpected circumstances with wide consequences affecting the world, as well as a global WTA tour and its members."

"The WTA consistently reflects our full support for Ukraine and strongly condemns the actions the Russian government has taken."

"With this, the basic principle of the WTA remains, namely ensuring that every athlete can participate in a professional tennis event based on achievement and without discrimination in any form, and is not punished for the decisions made by their country's leaders," the statement concluded.