Starting this Thursday, seven Russian and two Belarusian tennis players will compete in the Mutua Madrid Tennis Open.a sport that, with respect to the sanctions imposed against players of those nationalities for the war in Ukraine, an island in global competition.
Russia is, in fact, the second most represented country in the women’s draw of the tournamentjust behind the United States, with eight representatives, and tied with seven in the Czech Republic.
In the same city and on the same days that Russians and Belarusians normally play, even without the flags of their countries, at Caja Mágica, only 8 km away, at the Gallur Sports Center, they compete. the European badminton championships, which banned volunteers from that origin despite the fact they were first classified.
The international badminton federation followed the IOC’s recommendation to exclude Russians and Belarusians from their competitions during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine -supported by Belarus-, as did the tennis federation. But the ATP and WTA professional circuits go their own way.
The status of the global power of Russian women’s tennis led to 14% of Madrid tournament players from the two countries being subject to sporting sanctions. In principle, six, four of them are Russian, but three more passed the preliminary phase that ended on Wednesday and secured a spot in the final draw of 64 players.
Among them, the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkadefending champion and second favorite after Spaniard Paula Badosa, and the Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkovafifteenth in the world ranking, is the best spot to qualify for success.
Another Belarusian participant was Victoria Azarenko, 45 in the world.
The Russian players who will enter the main draw are Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15), Daria Kasatkina (23), Veronika Kurdemetova (25) and Liudmila Samsonova (26).
They passed the previous stage and agreed to fight for the title Ekaterina Alexandrova (45), Varvara Gracheva (73) and Anastasia Potapova (78).
They are arguing the Madrid tournament three Ukrainian players: Anhelina Kalinina (37) by ranking, Marta Kostyuk (60) by invitation and Dayana Yastremska (92) after passing the previous stage.
The international federation (ITF), the ATP and WTA circuits and the four Grand Slams decided on March 1 to suspend Russian and Belarusian players from ITF team competitions and allow their individual participation in tournaments. , even without their flag. .
however, Wimbledon organizers joined the veto all on April 20.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
