Steve Simon Lesia Tsurenko Caroline Garcia Russia Ukraine Belarus India tennis as Steve Simon Lesia Tsurenko Caroline Garcia Russia Ukraine Belarus India

Panic attack ends Tsurenko's Indian wells, as clinical Garcia moves

channelnewsasia.com

Caroline Garcia moved into the fourth round at Indian Wells with a clinical 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-1 win over Leylah Fernandez on Monday while Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko withdrew from her match after a talk with the WTA boss that she says triggered a panic attack.Even though the match required three sets and nearly two-and-a-half hours to determine a winner the fifth seeded Garcia was rarely under pressure from her Canadian opponent who managed just two break chances and could not convert either.Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka moved into the round of 16 when Tsurenko withdrew as the Ukraine conflict became a point of tension in the tournament.Shortly before her match on Monday organisers announced that Tsurenko had withdrawn for personal reasons.The Ukrainian qualifier later told Big Tennis website those personal reasons were a panic attack brought on by a conversation the 33-year-old had days earlier with WTA chief executive Steve Simon about tennis's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Belarus has been used as a staging ground for what Russia has called a special operation in the Ukraine."Officially it will be written 'personal reasons', but in fact it is breathing problems and, one might say, hysteria," said Tsurenko. "I was absolutely shocked by what I heard. "He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players from Russia and Belarus (do), then this is only their own opinion, and the opinion of other people should not upset me."At the same time, he noted that if this had happened to him and he had been in my place, he would have felt terrible."Responding to a request for comment, the WTA told Reuters it has "consistently reflected our full support for Ukraine and strongly condemn the actions

Related News
BERLIN : International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was wrong to argue that Russian and Belarus athletes can return to international competitions because they already compete without friction in some sports, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk said on Wednesday.   
MIAMI GARDENS, Florida: Carlos Alcaraz picked up a straight-set win at the Miami Open on Friday to keep his world No. 1 ranking over idle Novak Djokovic.
Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has received "hate" from people in the sport over Belarus' role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues to stir tension in the tennis world, and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka said Friday that it's not only Ukrainian players who are feeling the strain. "Of course it's a lot of tension between us," Australian Open champion Sabalenka said after beating Maria Sakkari to reach the final of the combined WTA and ATP Masters 1000 in the California desert. But, she added, "I still have this belief that I did nothing bad to Ukrainians -- not me, not Russian athletes."
World number two Aryna Sabalenka said the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was doing a good job of supporting players from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus amid tensions in the locker room following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last year.

Latest News

Change privacy settings
This page might use cookies if your analytics vendor requires them.