The recent ban of Russian and Belarusian players from Wimbledon has created plenty of controversies over the last few weeks. Many Ukrainian players expressed their approval of Wimbledon’s decision including Ukrainian’s no.1 player, Elina Svitolina.

Recently, the president of the Russian tennis federation, Shamil Tarpischev, thanked all the top tennis players in the world for supporting Russian players. However, he openly criticized Svitolina for her comments regarding the situation. Meanwhile, American legendary tennis player Chris Evert didn’t like Tarpischev’s comment on the Ukrainian tennis star, as she posted on her social media. 

Chris Evert didn’t like how the Russian Tennis Federation’s president spoke about Elina Svitolina

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina has been really vocal about the whole conflict between Russia and Ukraine. According to her, Russian players didn’t express their views to the Ukrainian tennis players and to the whole world. 

“This is very sad because many athletes from different countries came up to us and showed us their support. That’s why it really hurts us and we don’t understand why exactly [Russian and Belarusian players] didn’t. For us, for Ukrainians, it’s very important that they speak out, that they choose which side they take. We want to know, we want to feel safe about that,” Svitolina stated. (Google Translate)

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Meanwhile, Shamil Tarpischev, the Russian tennis federation’s president criticized Svitolina.

“It’s stupid to react at all. Who is Svitolina? Absolutely nobody.”

Meanwhile, 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert didn’t like the comments made by the President. She took to Twitter and lashed out at him by writing, “Well, I think that last sentence says it all….horrible comment…”

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Tarpischev said something controversial like this. Previously, he made a comment about the gender of Venus and Serena Williams, when he referred to them as ‘Williams Brothers’. As a result, WTA suspended him for one year, along with a massive fine of $25,000. 

ATP and WTA could take points away from Wimbledon 

With Wimbledon really getting closer, it doesn’t seem like they will change their decision about the Russian and Belarusian tennis players. However, ATP and WTA could change their stance as they are planning to take points away from Wimbledon. It means, players will only play for prize money, as they won’t get any points. 

Meanwhile, French Open didn’t follow Wimbledon’s decision and allowed all the Russian players to play under the neutral flag. However, they will closely monitor those players’ statements during the whole tournament. 

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