Ukrainian player had ‘panic attack’ after chat with WTA chief left her ‘shocked’

The Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko has said she withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells after having a panic attack following a discussion with the WTA chief executive, Steve Simon.

Tsurenko had been due to face the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in the third round on Sunday but handed the Australian Open champion a walkover.

The withdrawal was attributed to personal reasons but Tsurenko has now revealed it came because she was “absolutely shocked” by Simon’s answers in their discussion about tennis’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking to the Big Tennis Ukraine website, the 33-year-old said: “A few days ago, I had a conversation with our WTA CEO Steve Simon, and 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 support it, 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.”

Tsurenko’s comments come as Wimbledon organisers appear set to lift their ban on Russian and Belarusian players, with the International Olympic Committee potentially heading in the same direction.

Simon relayed that information to Tsurenko, who said: “He expressed confidence that the Russians and Belarusians will return to the Olympics and said that it will happen exactly as it is happening now in tennis.

“He also said that fair play and Olympic principles were not violated, but on the contrary. When asked if he understood what he was saying to me during the active phase of Russia’s military aggression in my country he said yes, and this was his opinion.

“I was completely shocked by