“They chose separate ways” Elina Svitolina unhappy with the WTA, ITF and Grand Slams as despite rounds of roundtable conferences, Ukraine remains unhelped

“They chose separate ways” Elina Svitolina unhappy with the WTA, ITF and Grand Slams as despite rounds of roundtable conferences, Ukraine remains unhelped

Elina Svitolina

Former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina, currently on a maternity break from tennis has continued to remain in discussions as the player has been a strong advocate for Ukraine ever since the war between Ukraine and Russia broke out on 24th February 2022. Elina was not in the country when the war began and had to rely on news reports for a long time before she was able to evacuate a few of her family members while some other members of her family continue to live in war-torn Ukraine.

Elina has since then spoken about the crimes and atrocities of the Russians and has demanded that international pressure be applied on Russia through all possible means as it will force the country to finally stop the war. To her dismay, tennis remains one of the most open sports for Russian and Belarusian players as the ATP, WTA and ITF have not stopped the players from participating but have instead just suspended the federations of Russia and Belarus while the players from the two nations play as neutral athletes.

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“We lost our homes, our training bases”: Elina Svitolina on the damage in Ukraine

Agnieszka Radwanska, Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek
Agnieszka Radwanska, Elina Svitolina, Iga Swiatek

Svitolina recently made a public appearance in Poland for the exhibition match between Iga Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanska as the two players along with a couple of other Polish players played in different matches to raise money for Ukraine and donate it to humanitarian causes in war-torn Ukraine. Elina was the chair umpire for the match between Iga and Agnieszka and later had several interviews where she gave details about her work in rebuilding Ukraine and bringing Russia to its knees.

“All the Ukrainians, we’ve been having roundtables with the WTA, the International Tennis Federation, grand slams, explaining the help we need, but they chose to go their separate ways. I was sad to find out they took their position. But I have a lot of respect and want to thank Wimbledon for making players feel supported, as well as Ukraine. Tennis players are pretty much living outside of Russia, training in Europe and the States. This is their decision,”

“A lot of players didn’t even come to us to ask how our family were doing. It created tension. Our Ukrainian people are dying back home, we lost our homes, we lost our training bases, our families are all in danger. Sport has a great responsibility with a lot of media attention, it helps people to understand what is really going on. This is my mission right now,” said Svitolina as reported by the Age.

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