Tallon Griekspoor Rejects Dutch Minister’s Call to Quit Russia Exhibition Amid Controversy

Tallon Griekspoor will compete at the Northern Palmyra Trophies despite many pleas to withdraw from the exhibition tournament.

Tallon Griekspoor Rejects Dutch Minister’s Call to Quit Russia Exhibition Amid Controversy

Tallon Griekspoor (Image via X)

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Tallon Griekspoor is one of the tennis players who has sparked controversy as he is set to partake in an exhibition tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Northern Palmyra Trophies is set to take place from November 29 to 30. Dutch foreign minister David van Weel has pleaded with Griekspoor not to play at the tournament.

The controversies from the Northern Palmyra Trophies all stem from the sponsors of the event, Gazprom. The energy company has been linked to funding the war in Ukraine, which has seen the ATP and WTA remove Russia-based events from their tournament calendars. Players from Russia and Belarus have been forced to play under a neutral flag.

The likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Daniil Medvedev, and Andrey Rublev are playing under neutral flags on tour. The Northern Palmyra Trophies has been held annually since 2022, and some notable players have participated in them and are used by athletes to get into the best conditions ahead of the next campaign.

However, Griekspoor’s decision to compete at the exhibition tournament in St. Petersburg has been met with fury in his home country. The Dutch No.1 is the only non-Russian or non-Kazakhstan player participating in the tournament. In fact, his name appearing on the list was a surprise to many.

The World No.25 decision has now been slammed by the outgoing foreign minister David van Weel, who has urged Griekspoor not to feature at the event. He revealed this during a debate about Ukraine in the House of Representatives. He stated that Griekspoor should not play at the tournament out of moral respect:

It is not forbidden to participate in tournaments in Russia, but I appeal to him not to do so where possible and to look at the moral aspects.

According to Nu.nl, the 29-year-old responded to the foreign minister’s comment on social media by stating that the minister was supposed to be doing better things than talking about him:

Don’t they have anything better to do?

Griekspoor enjoyed a good season on tour this season. He defeated Alexander Zverev in March at Indian Wells and had a good game against Jannik Sinner at the Rolex Shanghai Masters before the Italian star retired due to physical struggles. He ended the season with a 30-25 win-loss record on tour.

Renowned journalist reacts to top players competing at the Northern Palmyra Trophies in Russia

Tallon Griekspoor isn’t the only player featuring at the Northern Palmyra Trophies. It is fielded with mostly Russian players like Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, and Alexander Bublik. On the women’s side, Veronika Kudermetova, Diana Shnaider, Anastasia Potapova, and Yulia Putintseva have confirmed their participation.

Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev (Image via X/TENNISCentel)

However, the tournament has been enveloped in a lot of controversies. Renowned tennis journalist Jon Wertheim revealed on X that nothing stops an independent company like Gazprom from hosting tournaments, but it will be hard for the public to reconcile it with their alleged funding of the Ukraine war:

The court of public opinion notwithstanding, who’s to stop independent contractors from playing where and when they want?….But how do the same tours and tennis orgs that ban Russian flags on scoreboards – a symbolic sanction vs. Ukraine invasion – reconcile this?

World No.13, Medvedev, has been among the few players who have declared their intentions of playing at the tournament despite the controversy. The former World No.1 pointed out that he has not been to St. Petersburg for the past five years and will compete at the event as though it is a Grand Slam on tour.

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