Swiatek Feels It Is Too Late To Stop 'Messed Up' Locker Room Because Of Ukraine War
WTA
Iga Swiatek acknowledged the tense relations between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players, but she thinks it might be too late to reverse that.
Swiatek, who has yet to win a hard court Grand Slam, made a positive start to her US Open campaign with convincing victories against Jasmine Paolini and the 2017 champion at Flushing Meadows Sloane Stephens.
The world No. 1's season so far has been incredible. It included an extraordinary 37-match winning streak from February until it was finally broken by Frenchwoman Alize Cornet in the Wimbledon third round.
Swiatek is also known for being one of Ukraine's strong supporters since Russia's illegal invasion of the country in February of this year. She wore ribbons in the colors of the Ukrainian flag for a few months after the war began.
The Pole also participated in a charity match in aid of Ukraine alongside figures such as the former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska, helping raise money for charities in the war-stricken country.
Unfortunately, the war has created an unpleasant dynamic in the locker room between Ukrainian and Russian/Belarusian players(the Belarusian government supports Russia), and Swiatek thinks the ATP and WTA missed an opportunity to prevent this when the war started.
"Well, basically I think it's already too late. I mean, it's never too late, you know. But I think the best time for ATP or WTA to do anything was when the war started, and where the tension was pretty big, I mean, in the locker rooms, you know. I think right now it's already pretty messed up."
The World No. 1 also said that the players were not to blame for the invasion and that it would have been much simpler if the tours had gotten involved from the outset of the conflict.
"Even though there are countries who are invading other countries, we are tennis players, Swiatek said, adding, "It's sad but it's not our fault that it's happening, you know. Yeah, I think it would be much, much easier at the beginning to do that. Right now, yeah, right now it's kind of too late, I think, to fix that."
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