Swiatek Frustrated as Potapova Wears Moscow Jersey at Indian Wells
WTA
An unexpected incident during a third-round match at the 2023 Indian Wells left Iga Swiatek very surprised.
The WTA World No. 1 player is trying to speak about important issues in the world and on the WTA Tour, and that's why when Anastasia Potapova walked out on the court in Spartak Moscow's jersey, Swiatek was left very surprised.
Every time she has a chance to use her platform to help others, she does it, and her speech during the trophy ceremony in Doha was no exception.
Now, the Polish player spoke out again, as she thought that Anastasia Potapova's actions were not in line with what would be acceptable on the WTA Tour at the moment.
"To be honest, I was surprised because I thought she realized that she shouldn't, even if she's a fan of the team, show her views at times like this. I didn't know what the WTA would do or what the consequences would be."
As the leader of the WTA Tour, the young Pole quickly talked to the organization, which assured her that similar should be prevented in the future.
"I talked to the WTA and in a sense I learned that there will probably be fewer of these situations, because they will explain to other players that you can't promote any Russian teams these days, which calmed me down a bit."
Swiatek feels that the incident may have been prevented if the WTA had given players better instructions early on. In this tricky situation, strict guidelines might be the best solution to preventing similar moments from happening.
"On the other hand, I think that such a message should have been made much earlier. At the beginning of the war, there was a lot of chaos in the locker room. It was not known how to approach all this. This causes such situations."
