An announcement that may make great noise. The current 239th world player, Lesia Tsurenko announced via her social networks that she attacked the WTA, the ruling body of female tennis, in justice at the end of 2024. “Even in my worst nightmares I could only have imagined the professional circuit, where I considered myself at home, could become a terrifying and foreign place”, [de la WTA, ndlr] Consciously committed an act of psychological abuse against me, which caused a panic crisis and an inability to do my job, “she continued.
In these words, Lesia Tsurenko refers to her package on March 13, 2023 in Indian Wells before a match against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, more than a year after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. At the time, she said she had a conversation with the director general of the WTA, Steve Simon, and had been “shocked” from the words heard. The latter said, according to her, said that “he himself was against war, but that if Russian or Belarusian players supported her, it was their own opinion, and that the opinion of others should not disturb me”.
This Wednesday, Lesia Tsurenko decided to speak on the Indian Wells incident, believing that it was “time to tell the truth”. “Pain, fear, panic attacks, humiliation, hidden information, pressure on my team so that I would be silent … And it is not even the exhaustive list of what I have endured,” developed the player.
The WTA reacted
After having read the message left on the social networks of the player, the body of female tennis wanted to react: “Although the WTA has the greatest sympathy for the important difficulties that Mademoiselle Tsurenko and our other Ukrainian players have encountered, we are disappointed that she decided to initiate a legal proceedings aimed at making the WTA responsible for her distress”.
“At any time, the WTA and its management acted in an appropriate manner and in accordance with our rules, and we are convinced that we will take it in this dispute,” added the organization, before recalling that it “condemned the war waged by Russia against Ukraine from the very beginning” and that it had “taken many measures to help the Ukrainian players”.
In its press release, the WTA also insists on having “been clear”, and “that it was based on the principle of equality and non -discrimination, and that therefore, its competitions were open to all the players with merit and without discrimination”, before adding that “the players individually could not be penalized for the actions of their governments”.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, no Russian or Belarusian player has officially supported it, some denouncing it on the contrary. Ukrainian players have since refused to shake hands with their opponents of Russian or Belarusian nationalities.
