Coach Tsurenko: Chairman of the WTA is doing everything so that the war on the tour is not remembered at all

Physical training coach Lesya Tsurenko Nikita Vlasov said that WTA Chairman Steve Simon regularly blocks any attempts by Ukrainians to convey information about the war on the tennis tour.

“A year later, Lesya came to Simon and said: “A year has passed, you watched, but the WTA did nothing for the Ukrainians.” And she offered to calculate what has changed over the past time among Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians due to the fact that Russia attacked Ukraine.

Everything is extremely obvious: Ukrainians cannot fly home, they cannot train in their homeland, they cannot use medicine in Ukraine, they cannot recover there. If an athlete is tired during the season and wants to take a breath, he cannot simply fly home and hug his parents, because the country continues to be bombed. Plus, Ukrainians incur colossal housing costs, because they are constantly forced to live in hotels, in rented apartments, to provide housing for their families who were taken to Europe. Plus, athletes give money to coaches in the EU, rent courts. And Ukrainians will actively donate their personal money to support the army and the civilian population.”

“And what about the Russians and Belarusians? They removed the flag near the name. All! At the same time, Anastasia Gasanova from Russia openly supported the war, repeating all Putin’s narratives. For you to understand, on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she trained in Kyiv, with our trainers and on our courts. And now he says it.”

“In the end, Simon just made it clear that it’s normal for him when Ukrainians, who are suffering because of the war, and representatives of Russia and Belarus, who just started this war, play in the same round. He feels sorry for the Ukrainians, but he will not change anything, because, I repeat, even if Ukrainians and Russians support the war, this is their personal opinion. And Simon almost said in plain text that he was in favor of allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete in the 2024 Olympics.”

“Simon makes sure that the war is not mentioned at all on the tour. Last year, during the Rolland Garros, we tried to make a presentation, to show what kind of horror is really happening in our homeland, how big a disaster it is. Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo immediately responded to our proposal, approved and promised to help. And when it came almost to the finish line, Simon appeared and forbade it. And there was no presentation.

“All our initiatives to show the situation in Ukraine are being blocked by the WTA leadership. Therefore, we can only talk about what is happening in personal conversations with girls. And our interlocutors are horrified. Although you know what kind of people meet? Who ask us: “What, the war is not over yet?” Units, but there are such.

In Indian Wells, a few minutes before the start of the meeting against the Belarusian tennis player Arina Sobolenko, the Ukrainian refused to play “for personal reasons.” Lesya said that Steve Simon said that if players from Russia and Belarus support the war, then this is only their own opinion. The functionary also expressed confidence that the Russians would be allowed to the Olympics following the example of tennis tournaments, despite the war they unleashed.