Iga Swiatek: “Russian and Belarusian players should have been stopped immediately, now it’s late”

On the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes, tennis could have done better “from the start”. It’s the thought of Iga Swiatek, number 1 in the world, in light of the step backwards at Wimbledon. Since the beginning of the Ukrainian invasion, players from Russia and Belarus have been allowed to play tournaments even if as neutrals, the only exception being the London Slam which, however, from the next edition, will adapt to the rest of the circuit. “I heard that after the Second World War German players weren’t allowed to play, as well as Italian and Japanese players, and I feel that such a thing would have made the Russian government realize that perhaps it wasn’t worth it – the thought of the 21-year-old Polish on BBC – I know it’s a small thing, because we’re just athletes, but sport is quite important, it’s always been used by propaganda. But this was something that should have been considered at the beginning and instead tennis didn’t take this path. Doing it now would be quite unfair towards the Russian and Belarusian players because it is a decision that had to be taken a year ago. Tennis could have done a little better from the beginning by showing everyone that we are against the war”.

Swiatek points the finger against Atp And Wta believing that more could have been done, “they could have helped us to manage the situation a little better in the changing rooms where the atmosphere is quite tense”. The Pole then reveals that she shook hands with Daria Kasatkina because “she openly said from the very beginning that she was against the war and that she dreamed of the end of the conflict. I really respect her because I think it is brave of Russian athletes to expose themselves because their situation is quite complicated and sometimes it is difficult for them to talk about it aloud”.