Aryna Sabalenka: ‘Zero control’: ‘Zero control’
tennis number 5 in the world Aryna Sabalenka has questioned the effectiveness of Wimbledon move to ban Russian and Belarusian players from last year’s tournament, arguing that the move did nothing to detract from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Wimbledon did not receive any ranking points last year due to the sanction, after the ATP and WTA fined the tournament hosts for imposing the controversial sanction.
Wimbledon was the only tournament in place restrictions on players from Russia or Belarus in the wake of the Vladimir Putin-led invasion of neighboring Ukraine. The invasion sparked a reckoning in the UK against wealthy Russian oligarchs who harbor assets, amid near-global condemnation of the Russian invasion.
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While the move to ban players from Russia and Putin-supporting Belarus from Wimbledon was met with approval from some quarters, it sparked major controversy between the ATP and WTA, and the club from England that hosts the famed grand slam. As a result of the ban, Wimbledon had its ranking points taken away in 2022, leaving aggrieved players without a chance to defend crucial ranking points.
World No.5 Sabalenka, a native of Belarus, will compete at the 2022 Australian Open under a neutral flag. Many players on the tour, including those from Russia, have spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine.
Sabalenka questioned whether the ban had any impact on the effort to end the invasion. speaking to Age Before the Australian Open, the 24-year-old said it was unfair to punish players for a situation they had no control over.
“This is really terrible because nobody supports the war, nobody,” he said. “The problem is that we have to speak loudly about it…but why should we shout about it at every corner? It’s not going to help anything. We have zero control under this situation.
“I’m really disappointed that sport is somehow in politics. We’re just athletes playing their sport. That’s it. It’s not about politics. If we all could do something, we would, but we have no control.” “We got banned from Wimbledon, and what’s changed? Nothing, they’re still doing this, and this is what’s sad.” [part] of this situation.”
Iga Swiatek’s bold Ash Barty is revealed as Australian Open campaign kicks off
Meanwhile, World No.1 Iga Swiatek opened her United Cup campaign with a straight-set thrashing of Kazakh Yulia Putintseva. Swiatek gave Poland a 1-0 lead in the mixed-team tournament tie with a resounding 6-1, 6-3 victory in Brisbane on Saturday.
Swiatek went on a 37-match winning streak last season, the longest in women’s tennis since Steffi Graf in 1990. But she revealed on the eve of the United Cup that she initially struggled against retired Australian ace Ash Barty, world No. 1 cloak.
Swiatek hopes to take her game to even greater heights in 2023 and has gotten underway ahead of next month’s Australian Open. She was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park last summer, losing to American Danielle Collins.
Swiatek said starting the season injury-free was a big plus. “A couple of times early in the season, he would come back from injury as well,” he said.
“In fact, I’ve never had such an easy start to the season. Not easy, but maybe without extra baggage. I feel like this time I can just focus on getting into the rhythm and not really think about other things. We’ll see how it goes.” .
with PAA
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