“Don’t pay attention” Russian Tennis Federation President hits back at ‘nobody’ Elina Svitolina over her comments on banning Russian players

“Don’t pay attention” Russian Tennis Federation President hits back at ‘nobody’ Elina Svitolina over her comments on banning Russian players

Shamil Tarpischev, President of the Russian Tennis Federation and Elina Svitolina

Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina continues to fight for Ukraine in the tennis world as the Russian military refuses to back off from Ukraine in their attempts to invade the European nation. Svitolina was a few of the lucky ones to not be in the country when the war began on 24th February 2022 and the player has since then put all her efforts into making sure that the responsible parties are punished accordingly.

Elina along with many other Ukrainian players have demanded the ban of all Russian and Belarusian players from tennis but so far only the tennis federations of the two nations have been suspended. The LTA and Wimbledon have however acted strongly and banned all Russian and Belarusian players from participating in all grasscourt events in the UK this year as the war continues.

Elina recently spoke in favour of the controversial Wimbledon ban decision and asked for the Russian and Belarusian players to show which ‘side’ they are on. The comments were not taken well by Shamil Tarpischev, President of the currently suspended Russian Tennis Federation, who has reverted strongly against the Tokyo Olympics’ Bronze medallist.

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“There is no need to pay attention [to what Svitolina says], this is not only my opinion but also what lawyers think. Because of any statement, we [Russian players] can be excluded from some competitions. Now we are playing, everything is fine with us. It’s stupid to react at all. Who is Svitolina? Absolutely nobody.

“Support from the [tennis] top players is always needed. [Russian] players and the [Russian] federation are grateful to all of the players who have already come out in defence of our athletes who were not allowed to compete [at Wimbledon]. In my opinion, all the top players should support us and thus defend the competitive principle in the tennis world,” said Tarpischev as reported by BTU.

Also Read: “There will be sanctions” Tournament Director of the French Open confirms close monitoring of Russian and Belarusian players

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To Elina Svitolina’s delight, French Open to monitor Russian and Belarusian players

Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina

While Wimbledon has remained adamant about not allowing the players from the two nations to play in this year’s events, the 2022 French Open will be welcoming all players but there remains a catch. As per the statements of Roland Garros’ president Amelie Mauresmo, players from Russia and Belarus will be monitored to keep a check on their comments made during their stay at the tournament and necessary sanctions might be applied if the comments are out of the line set by the Roland Garros.

Wimbledon on the other hand now faces a big problem with reports emerging on top-ranked ATP players having approached the Tour to strip Wimbledon of its ranking points along with other events in the UK making them nothing but high-paying exhibition events for all the participating players.

Also Read: ‘Why life has been so hard with you?’ Fans unite to come in support of Rafael Nadal after his heartbreaking loss in Rome

Also Read: ‘It’s time to accept the situation and fight,’ An ailing Rafael Nadal very vulnerable ahead of the French Open