Elina Svitolina: Russia and Belarus players should not be competing at US Open

Ukraine's Elina Svitolina has said that the US Open have made the wrong call in allowing Russia and Belarus players to compete at Flushing Meadows.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced on Tuesday that they would not be following Wimbledon's lead in banning players from both countries from taking part due to Russia's attack on Ukraine that started in February.

Players from the two nations will have to compete under a neutral flag at the final Grand Slam event of the season that starts at the end of August.

The decision means Russian men's world No 1 Daniil Medvedev can defend his title in New York.

“It's their decision to make, they decided to take this path. I don't support it because I feel like they should have taken more serious action,” Svitolina told Reuters on Saturday.

“Our [Ukraine's] sports is thrown back by 10 years minimum because all the infrastructure has been damaged or completely destroyed. I can tell you many, many factors that can play a role in the decision of not letting Russian and Belarusian players compete.”

Russian and Belarusian players, who also participated at the French Open, are banned from team events but are allowed to compete as neutrals on the men's and women's tours.

The 27-year-old Svitolina pledged to donate her prize money from tournaments to the Ukrainian army before pulling out of the tour after losing in the second round of the Miami Masters in March.

Born in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, Svitolina expected more support from the governing bodies of tennis and was completely against the policy of allowing players from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutrals.

The silence from her fellow players from Russia and Belarus was also surprising.

Russia's Daniil