(Miami) The WTA will meet, at their request, the Ukrainian players to discuss their concerns related to the war in their country and the resulting tensions with their Russian and Belarusian opponents, the body announced on Friday to AFP .
“We received a request for a meeting between the players and the board. The date of this meeting is under consideration and it will of course take place,” said a WTA spokesperson.
The day before, the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk had criticized the women’s circuit for ignoring this request. “We wanted a meeting with the (WTA) board and we didn’t get it. No answer, nothing, just silence,” she said.
“This is not the first request that has been made to us and we have arranged a meeting each time,” the WTA replied.
Kostyuk declined to discuss the issues she and her compatriots wish to raise. “Before a meeting can take place, I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about it,” she said.
In Miami, the luck of the draw put her on the same road as Russian Anastasia Potapova, who won 6-1, 6-3 Thursday in the second round after a match that took place without incident, but which ended without a handshake between the two players.
Potapova angered Ukrainian players last week in Indian Wells by entering the court wearing a Spartak Moscow soccer jersey. This was seen as a sign of support for his country in the current dispute and earned him a formal warning from the WTA.
In recent weeks, tension has been mounting in the locker room between Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian players.
Earlier this week, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, world No.2, claimed to feel “hate” in the locker room, referring without giving details to a clash with a Ukrainian coach.
Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who was due to face Sabalenka in Indian Wells, withdrew from the match, explaining afterwards that she suffered a “panic attack” following a conversation with the circuit boss about the consequences of the Russian invasion of his country.
