Russian Zvonareva Blocked From Entering Poland To Compete In Warsaw

| by Kadir Macar

Russian pro tennis player Vera Zvonareva was blocked from entering Poland to compete at the 2023 Poland Open.

Vera Zvonareva is a rather familiar name for most tennis fans because the Russian player has been a professional player on the WTA Tour for many years. She's been quite good for most of that and she's still actively competing albeit not on the same level as before.

She was supposed to play at the Poland Open but she won't because she was blocked from entering the country. You don't have to think too hard to understand why as it's all tied to her being a Russian national. Poland has been a fierce ally of Ukraine ever since Russia invaded the country.

Much of that has to do with Poland's own history with Russia but they also shared a border with Russia so in some ways that drastic escalation of tensions is a security risk to the country. That was precisely the reason why Zvonareva was denied entry into the country per the Ministry of Defence of the country.

The wording used for the explanation was state security and public safety which sounds very excessive for a player that is there only to play a tennis event but it's their country and their rules as they say. Zvonareva was on a flight from Belgrade to Warsaw but was held in the transit zone of the Airport. After being denied entry, Zvonareva flew to Podgorica, Montenegro.

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The Border Guard prevented a Russian tennis player from entering Poland. Vera Zvonareva, using a visa issued by France, tried to get into our country on a flight from Belgrade to Warsaw. After arriving from Serbia, the tennis player stayed in the transit zone of Warsaw Chopin Airport and today after 1200 she flew to Podgorica.

Polish Ministry of Defence on the Situation

This comes in light of a challenger event in the country openly stating that players from Russia and Belarus are not welcome at the event. After the news made headlines on social media, the event pulled back the initial comments changing the wording of the statement into a pro-Ukraine statement as opposed to an anti-Russia and Belarus statement.

Only about a week later, another incident happened, this time on the soil of the Czech Republic, as Russian and Belarusian players were not allowed to compete at the 2023 Prague Open.

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