Some of the players can't play under their flags at the 2024 Australian Open, and there's a very specific reason for that.
Some players were assigned a white flag next to their name, or no flag, and that was not by mistake. It is meant to serve as a neutral banner for Russian and Belarusian tennis players competing at the event.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in which Belarus is a key staging area, has seen sporting sanctions brought against its athletes. For instance, at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, Russian and Belarusian players were banned from playing the tournament in a controversial move.
Tennis Australia (TA) has not issued any restrictions - or at least on par with the All England Club - for Russian and Belarusian athletes for the forthcoming tournament set to commence on January 14, 2024.
Last year, Australian Open tournament organizers were forced to ban spectators from displaying Russian flags on the grounds at Melbourne Park after controversy surrounding the match between Kamilla Rakhimpva of Russia and Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine.
At the time, TA was forced to issue a statement saying, "Flags from Russia and Belarus are banned onsite at the Australian Open. Our initial policy was that fans could bring them in but could not use them to cause disruption. Yesterday, we had an incident where a flag was placed courtside."
That is expected to be the case in 2024. Moreover, players like Daniil Medvedev, Aryna Sabalenka, and Andrey Rublev won't be allowed to compete under the flag or name of their countries, even on their attires and live broadcasts.
Because of the ongoing conflict, player tension has existed and boiled down to a war of words in press conferences. Ukrainian players have made it clear that they won't shake hands with their Russian and Belarusian counterparts, which has been strongly criticized in some quarters.
Some players like Marta Kostyuk have been booed for following this move. And very recently, Kostyuk was forced to pull out from a scheduled exhibition match just hours before kick-off after facing the wrath of her people back home when they received the news she would line up against a Russian player, Mirra Andreeva.
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