Ukrainian Elina Svitolina disagrees with Wimbledon Russia ban as she wants Putin denounced

Ukrainian world No 25 Elina Svitolina has admitted she doesn't agree with Wimbledon's blanket ban on Russian and Belarusian players. It comes after she led her fellow Ukrainian players in sharing a statement calling on the ATP and WTA to question players from the two nations on their views on the war.

Svitolina has claimed that a ban on all Russian and Belarusian Players at Wimbledon is not what she and her fellow Ukrainian athletes wanted to happen. The tournament announced the decision on Wednesday in a strong statement condemning both countries' actions in invading Ukraine, prompting the 27-year-old and her fellow Ukrainian players to release a statement asking both tours to ban players who fail to denounce Putin and the war.

When asked whether she would be communicating with other tournaments to impose a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis players, Svitolina told the BBC: "For now this was not the idea to do. We just wanted to say our opinion with the statement that we posted. What we think is the right decision to do."

The former world No 3 reiterated that she and her Ukrainian colleagues did not want all players from the two nations to face a blanket ban, instead asking them to speak out against their country's actions, adding: "And again, I want to say that we don't want to completely ban them but we just want them to speak up, to say their choice. If they are with the rest of the world or they are with Russian people and the Russian government so this is for me the main point."

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A former semi-finalist at Wimbledon, Svitolina said it was also "the right thing to do" to allow Russian and Belarusian tennis players to compete at the All England