Ukrainian tennis player, Marta Kostyuk, ranked No. 49 in the world, expressed “surprise and dissatisfaction” on her social media page with the lack of response from the Women’s Tennis Association on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and demanded that the WTA immediately condemn the Russian government and pull all tournaments out of Russia.
Speaking on behalf of all Ukrainian tennis players, she wrote, “Our country, Ukraine is under brutal attack by superior nuclear power.”
“The bombs and rockets are hitting our houses, killing our people, destroying our life,” she wrote.
She asked the WTA to approach the International Tennis Federation, the governing body of world tennis, to do the same.
Echoing Kostyuk’s frustration was Ukrainian and world No. 15 ranked Elina Svitolina, who issued a statement that read in part, “…We – Ukrainian players – requested to ATP, WTA and ITF to follow the recommendations of the IOC [International Olympic Committee] to accept Russian or Belarussian nationals only as neutral athletes, without displaying any national symbols, colours, flags or anthems.”
Svitolina said she would not play in her match Tuesday in Moterrey or in any other match against Russian or Belarussian tennis players until the tennis organizations take the requested actions. But she also stated she does not blame any Russian athletes and wishes “to pay tribute to all the players, especially Russians and Belarussians, who bravely stated their position against the war.”
Earlier Monday, Kostyuk posted a video from Kharkiv, Ukraine, where buildings were actively being attacked by Russia, with the caption “Stay strong.”