Swiatek Opens Up About Tensions In Locker Room Amidst War

| by Sebastian Dahlman

The WTA Tour and its locker rooms are not currently in the calmest state and the world no. 1, Iga Swiatek, acknowledged it.

With many top Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian players, the atmosphere on the WTA Tour is very tense. Only recently, the world no. 2 from Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka, has spoken out against facing hate in the locker room. Her initial claims were denied by Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, but the later revealed comments from the Ukrainian shed a different light on the situation.

In one of her interviews, Kostyuk said that she would like to harm Russian and Belarusian players physically and the tennis world was left stunned by this statement. Moreover, the statements by the WTA CEO Steve Simon, after which Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko had a panic attack and withdrew from the Indian Wells also didn't help.

Now, speaking to the BBC, Iga Swiatek shared her honest perspective on how the governing bodies of tennis could have approached the situation but she also mentioned the state of the locker room, which is 'pretty tense' according to her own words.

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Swiatek Claims Russian Players Were Supposed To Be Banned Already Year Ago

"I feel like tennis, from the beginning, could do a bit better in showing everybody that tennis players are against the war. I feel they could do more to make that point and tell their views, and help us cope a bit better in the locker room because the atmosphere there is pretty tense."

Right now, it's very improbable that something would change on the ATP or WTA Tour. Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete, despite enormous efforts from the Ukrainian players to change that.

Moreover, Wimbledon, who banned athletes from those countries last year, also allowed them to compete in the 2023 Championships, and the trend is going in the direction of Russian and Belarusian athletes rather than Ukrainian players.

The only thing that players on the WTA Tour may hope for is that the atmosphere in the locker room will change for the better and there will be no more tensions.

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