Push Admin

Tennis: World No. 1 Swiatek wants united front in Russian, Belarusian ban

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek attends the presentation of the Mutua Madrid Tennis Open at the Madrid Arena in Madrid, Spain, 27 April 2022. Emilio Naranjo, EPA-EFE." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/04/28/iga-swiatek.jpg"/><figcaption>Polish tennis player Iga Swiatek attends the presentation of the Mutua Madrid Tennis Open at the Madrid Arena in Madrid, Spain, 27 April 2022. Emilio Naranjo, EPA-EFE.</figcaption></figure></div>MADRID, Spain -- Iga Swiatek called on Wednesday for the governing bodies of tennis to unite in their decisions regarding the involvement of Russian and Belarusian players at tournaments, to avoid the &quot;chaos&quot; created by Wimbledon&#x27;s unilateral move to ban them from this summer&#x27;s Championships.The world number one has been vocal in her support for Ukraine and has been wearing a ribbon with the country&#x27;s colors during her matches.Last week, Wimbledon announced Russian and Belarusian players were banned from this year&#x27;s tournament due to the invasion of Ukraine.&quot;The situation is getting like more and more chaotic, I would say,&quot; Swiatek told reporters at the Madrid Open after announcing her withdrawal from the tournament due to a right shoulder injury.&quot;But I feel like it would be nice to have all these bodies making the proper decision so that we&#x27;re not going to have that kind of chaos.&quot;I feel like people are expecting us players to make the decision, but it&#x27;s pretty hard for us to make one because we know these people. We know each other. We are spending so much time on tour that it feels like we&#x27;re family.&quot;For sure it&#x27;s a tough situation and that&#x27;s why I think the actual people who are responsible for making this decision, they should make one decision that is going to last.&quot;Women&#x27;s tour organizers the WTA and its men&#x27;s counterpart, the ATP, criticized the move from the All England Club.Swiatek did not state whether she believes Wimbledon&#x27;s decision is correct or not and feels she is not qualified enough to weigh in on the matter in a definitive way.&quot;I don&#x27;t know what decision is right, because honestly, I&#x27;m 20 and it&#x27;s not like I&#x27;m saying that because I want to stay in a safe bubble. But honestly, I&#x27;ve never been involved in politics and it&#x27;s not like I know everything.&quot;It&#x27;s more like I still need to educate myself and I feel like I should educate myself a little bit more in that.&quot;So I can&#x27;t tell what&#x27;s the best decision that&#x27;s for sure. Making some moves that are going to help stop the war a little bit would be better.&quot;<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Iga Swiatek called for the governing bodies of tennis to unite in their decisions regarding the involvement of Russian and Belarusian players at tournaments.