Former World No. 9 on the WTA Tour, Veronika Kudermetova, recently spoke about the ban on Russian teams from team competitions in tennis.
Russian and Belarusian teams can't compete in team competitions in tennis. On March 1st, 2022, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that the teams from these countries wouldn't be allowed to compete in team competitions.
It was a reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and as a result, the ITF Board suspended the membership of the Russian Tennis Federation (RTF) and Belarus Tennis Federation (BTF), and also banned both countries from competing in team competitions.
It was also then announced that individually, Russian and Belarusian players would be allowed to continue competing under a neutral flag, which is why they still compete week in, week out.
In 2022, it was also announced that the suspension would be "indefinite," and it hasn't been overruled since then, which means that the players from those countries still can't compete in team competitions.
Paradoxically, Russia triumphed in both the Billie Jean King Cup and the Davis Cup the last time they were allowed to compete, which was in 2021.
In the knockout stage, which was held in Madrid, Spain, the Russian Tennis Federation (as Russia didn't compete under their flag even then) first defeated Sweden, then Germany, and eventually Croatia in the final to lift the trophy, with Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Aslan Karatsev, and Karen Khachanov leading the Russian team.
In the knockout stage of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Russia first defeated the United States and then Switzerland to lift their fifth trophy in the competition, which is fourth most behind the United States, the Czech Republic (and Czechoslovakia), and Australia.
The Russian team was led by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Daria Kasatkina, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Liudmila Samsonova, and Veronika Kudermetova.
Now, three years later, Kudermetova spoke about the ban of Russian teams from those competitions in an interview with Russian publication Championat.
The former World No. 9 player in singles and No. 2 in doubles said that she hasn't really thought about the ban since it happened and also suggested that it happened because their opponents "got scared" after Russia won both competitions in 2021.
"I never really thought about it, to be honest. We left beautifully, as winners. Both boys and girls. And then, apparently, they got scared of us."
Naturally, Kudermetova likely meant it in a light-hearted manner, but even if she was serious, it wouldn't be the first time that she would be embroiled in a controversy tied to the War in Ukraine.
In 2023, the Russian player was accused of breaking the neutrality policy to which all Russian and Belarusian tennis players are subject. This was because she trained in a facility in Russia that likely didn't meet these rules.
On top of that, she had to remove the logo of one of her sponsors for the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, as it was a Russian company that was sanctioned by the European Union.