Shamil Tarpischev, the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, called Elina Svitolina "absolutely nobody" over her comments on the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused tension and division within the tennis community. Last month, Wimbledon imposed a ban on all Russian and Belarusian players who were to compete in the grass-court major.
Its decision has generated mixed reactions from stakeholders. Several non-Ukrainian players have condemned the ban. The All England Club remained resolute in its statement.
The chairman, Ian Hewitt, noted that Wimbledon would not be used as a platform "to promote the Russian regime" and that it considered concerns surrounding public and player safety for the event, which will begin in late June.
Svitolina, the highest-ranked Ukrainian tennis player in singles and vocal critic of the current war in her homeland, hailed Wimbledon's announcement. But Tarpischev fiercely responded to her comments.
The Russian head honcho did not get away with his public criticism of Svitolina. Former US Open champion Andy Roddick launched a defensive post on Twitter, backing Svitolina and asking Tarpischev to examine his own tennis career before calling a more successful player a "nobody".
"Tarpischev career high ranking of 164. Career record of 2-3. No titles (obviously) .. @ElinaSvitolina career record of 433-228. 16 singles titles, career high of 3. I’d ask him to define “nobody” and then look in the mirror objectively."
The decision to ban Russians and Belarusians from competing at Wimbledon will have far-reaching consequences. The ATP is reportedly set to strip ranking points in all warm-up grass-court tournaments in the United Kingdom and Wimbledon.
That means a player who could have received a maximum of 2000 points at SW19 will only have one incentive, and that will be prize money. They cannot add points to their tally to climb up the rankings. The WTA will probably follow suit, although there has been no communication from their side about that development.
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