Tatiana Prozorova will compete at the US Open despite not obliging with the neutral position requirement for Russian players.
Calls for the banning of Russian players from tennis events have been loudly repeated in Ukranian circles, and sometimes the calls seem justified. An internationally denounced and, under international law, illegal war was initiated from the Russian side some 18 months ago.
Russian players were given an ultimatum about not showing any kind of support for Russia publicly. What they do in their private life is their right however, as players who represent in tennis, backing the war was never an option.
Still, some clearly don't care, and some clearly don't mind showing it. A few weeks ago, we saw tennis prodigy Mirra Andreeva being called out by Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska about liking social media posts, which could be interpreted as pro-Russian stances.
Andreeva is Russian, and there is a very thin line between patriotism and nationalism, with the lines being even more blurry in times of war. Liking posts about flags and such could be simply patriotic, but due to the current circumstances by which Russians must remain completely neutral publicly when competing on the WTA Tour, it's not tolerated.
Well, Andreeva is not the only one. Russian player Tatiana Prozorova who is 19, just qualified for the US Open, and her likes on social media are hard to misjudge. A Ukranian tennis platform on X compiled some of the videos, so let's break some of it down.
The first one shows the Russian president changing the American flag to a Russian one while making faces. Further along, we see a video comparing Russian army members to USA ones, with the video itself mocking the US armed forces on their identity and gender or orientation.
Considering that the US Open was just declared a safe space for LGBTQ+ members, it's a valid question how those community members would feel knowing they're watching a player who possibly doesn't respect their rights. One of the videos also compared the current presidents of Russia and the United States of America, mocking the latter.
So Tatiana Prozorova qualified for her first major main draw at the US Open & will step on the Louis Armstrong Stadium vs C. Wozniacki @usopen@usta@wta@ITFTennis apparently agree that the posts the Russian tennis player liked, 50+ like these down below, are absolutely neutral.
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