Elina Svitolina reveals Russian tennis players "try to avoid" Ukrainians on tour

Elina Svitolina has expressed her disappointment in the behaviour of some Russian tennis players who seemingly “try to avoid” her and other Ukrainians on the WTA Tour.

The world number 25 has been extremely vocal on social media since the invasion of her country and also spoke out against the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from Wimbledon this year.

Svitolina has revealed she does not agree with the boycott but wants to see the players themselves do more in terms of speaking out.

Since Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes have still been eligible to compete in sport, but under neutral participation.

The players have not featured under their national flags, and their national anthems have not been played before matches.

Svitolina recently stated that she believes the ATP and WTA should enforce bans on players from Russia and Belarus who have failed to denounce the invasion of Ukraine.

“We noticed that some Russian and Belarusian players at some point vaguely mentioned the war, but never clearly stating that Russia and Belarus started it on the territory of Ukraine,” she wrote in a statement.

“The very silence of those who choose to remain that way right now is unbearable as it leads to the continuation of murder in our homeland.

“We demand that the WTA, ATP and ITF make sure that players who represent Russia and Belarus answer the following questions:

“1. Do you support Russia’s and Belarus invasion in Ukraine’s territory and as a result of that the war started by those countries?

“2. Do you support Russia’s and Belarus military activities in Ukraine?

“3. Do you support Putin’s and Lukashenko’s regime?

“If applicable, we demand to exclude and ban any Russian and