The controversy continues: what Iga Swiatek, world number 1, said about the Russian who left to play for Spartak Moscow

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a full impact on the tennis world and has generated a strange climate – with mixed opinions – in the professional circuits, in which Russian and Belarusian players continue to compete, but under a neutral flag. In the case of the women’s tour, in the last year there have been some tense situations due to the war, as happened in Indian wells a few days ago, when the Russian Anastasia Potapova He jumped on the track in the jersey of spartak of Moscow, which has generated criticism and reproaches. The episode attracted the attention of Iga Swiateknumber one in the world, who has raised his voice to demand that such a thing never happen again.

“To be honest, I was surprised to see a Russian player wearing the jersey of a football club from her country. She should have understood that she shouldn’t have shown her opinions in these moments, no matter how big a fan of such equipment she is.” “, it reflected the polishafter signing the pass to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory against the English Emma Raducanu.

“I spoke to the leaders of the WTA and they assured me that a similar situation shouldn’t happen again, because they will explain to the other players that no Russian team can be promoted these days, which calmed me down a bit. I think that announcement should have been made much sooner. These situations occurred because it wasn’t done,” Swiatek continued.

And he acknowledged: “There was a lot of chaos in the dressing room at the beginning of the war. It was not clear how to focus everything, which causes such unpleasant situations. I think if there had been better leadership from the beginning, maybe we would have avoided these situations”.

The Pole, who will be looking for a pass for the semifinal against the Romanian Sorana Cirsteahe also expressed his support for Ukrainian players, in particular Lesia Tsurenkowho withdrew from the tournament on Sunday ahead of her third-round duel against the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkaafter suffering a war-related panic attack.

“I totally understand that. It must be almost impossible to be focused every week to compete knowing your country is at war. I can’t imagine what I would do if they bombed Poland,” he said.

He added: “We should all focus more on helping Ukrainian athletes, providing them with everything they need and taking care of their families. I’m going to work hard because I don’t think everything is done right now.. We are an example to many children and we have a responsibility as elite athletes. I think Russian tennis players should be more sensitive when it comes to their behavior.”

Swiatek is one of the players on the tour who has always been outspoken against the war and has done his part to raise money to help the people of Ukraine.

In July of last year he organized the exhibition “Iga Swiatek & Friends for Ukraine” in Krakow and which summoned the former number one Agnieszka Radwanskathe Ukrainians Elina Svitolina AND Sergius Stakhovsky and former footballer Andriy Shevchenko, among others. He raised $500,000. And in January, the Polish woman announced that she was selling T-shirts and souvenirs from the event, in partnership with UNICEFto help the children of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in August, days before the start of US Openit was one of the great attractions of “Tennis Plays for Peace” (Tennis Plays for Peace), which was held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centerhome of the North American Grand Slam, and which raised $1.2 million.

Now, the winner of three Majors (Roland Garros 2020 and 2022 and US Open 2022) seems determined to weigh her status as leader of the rankings and benchmark for women’s tennis to calm the tension and improve the climate in the WTA locker room.