Dayana Yastremska says Ukrainian players have called on WTA to follow similar moves to 'many sports' and ban Russian and Belarusian players from competing on Tour.
In an interview with Polish journalist Dominik Senkowski, Yastremska was brutal in the assessment of the current climate of the WTA Tour, saying that Ukrainian players are powerless from enforcing any rules, but remain steadfast in pushing their goal of exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players from Tour.
Yastremska does not feel any extra pressure playing opponents from the two countries but adds that the feeling of stepping onto the court to compete is indescribable, and infamous incidents of Russian players liking social media posts in support of the war have provoked the ire of Ukrainians.
"We can't do anything about players from Russia and Belarus. We have no way to exclude them from tour. In many sports players from these countries are not allowed to compete. Our goal has always been to push WTA to make a similar decision."
"I don't feel any extra pressure when I play against a Russian or Belarusian. On the court, I feel more like... it's hard to describe. I feel like I'm playing against people who come from a country that kills my compatriots And even if such a rival supports the war in social media, the game is even more difficult."
Yastremska goes ahead and calls out Russian players who are falsely purporting their neutrality, citing Mirra Andreeva's incident in Lausanne as a case in point. The Odesa native has repeatedly reported to the WTA, but her efforts have bore no fruit.
"I went to the WTA in Switzerland and told them about it. I have not received any reason for their decision. They said 'There's nothing we can do'. I told them it wasn't fair."
"Before our match in Lausanne, I went on Instagram to look at some photos and saw that Mirra liked those posts. This was not a surprise, because most Russian tennis players do the same. They publicly assert their neutrality, but in fact, the opposite is true."
Yastremska admits that behind the scenes, Ukranian players are working tirelessly to push for sanctions and penalties to ensure such incidents don't happen. While she remains on good terms with a minute of Russian players like Daria Kasatkina, their conversation doesn't extend beyond greetings.
"I was surprised by the decision of WTA, but on the other hand it's not the first time Ukrainian players showed WTA, what is happening. We have repeatedly reported similar behavior of players from Russia in social media. We suggested penalties for them, but nothing changes."
"She (Kasatkina) openly presented her opinion on the war, for which she deserves respect. We say "Hello" to each other, but we don't talk beyond that. She is one of the few who had "eggs" to speak out."
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