The Women’s Tennis Association issued a formal warning Anastasia Potapova to wear the T-shirt of the Russian football team Spartak Moscow before the match against jessica pegula This week in Indian Wells.
The Russian player’s actions were seen as a public show of support for his country during the invasion of Ukraine, and the 21-year-old was criticized by world no. inga swotek,
Potapova, when asked about the shirt after the match, said that she had supported Spartak since the age of 13 and did not see any excitement in it.
“With regard to the Russian football team shirt, the WTA has formally warned the player that this is not an acceptable nor appropriate course of action,” the WTA said in a statement. “We do not expect to see any recurrence of this in the future.”
of Ukraine Lesia Surenko withdrew from their third round match with Belarus Aryan Sabalenka He had what he called a panic attack in Indian Wells.
Tsurenko said the attack began after a conversation with WTA CEO Steve Simon about tennis’ response to Russia’s invasion, for which Belarus has been an important stage.
Russian and Belarusian players can compete on the WTA as individual athletes without national affiliation.