Ahead Of French Open Draws, Ukrainian Tennis Star Tsurenko Urges To Beat Russians On Any Field

Ahead of the French Open 2023 Draws, Ukrainian Tennis player Tsurenko urges to beat Russian and Belarusian counterparts on any field. Notably, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, players from Russia and Belarus are participating in both ATP and WTA tours under a neutral flag. This is not the first time when a Ukrainian superstar asked to boycott or beat Russian players.

While speaking with AFP, Tsurenko said, “My message for the French Open is it is like what I said about other sports – we just have to go and beat them on any field. There is no sense for Ukrainian sportsmen to give up. What sort of message does that give? In tennis, we tried so many things to ban them and the tennis organisations do not want to listen to us.”

Tsurenko further spoke about the lack of support and the pain players from both nation is suffering. She said, “Just one person spoke directly to me on the first day of the war,” she said. “That person told me with tears in their eyes that everything going on is so terrible. Now no more players talk to me. I do not have much sympathy for any of them. I can just say if they suffer we suffer much more. There are many ways that you can help in these cases. You can change citizenship or move your family if you are afraid”, she added.

Tsurenko missed Indian Wells Tournament In April

Notably, Tsurenko had a massive panic attack before her third-round game against Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus in the Indian Wells in April this year. Ahead of the game, she withdrew herself and didn’t appear in the match. Speaking about the same, she said, “I was so shocked that a year ago Steve Simon told us if any player will show their support for the war, this person will be banned. Then one year on he changes his attitude to, ‘It is ok to support the war’. It shocked me so much it just blew my mind.”

Speaking about her round two game, she said that it was very difficult for her to win that match. “I just imagined if I played that match on the centre court then people like Simon will say at a sports chiefs meeting ‘You know they played against each other and it is okay’. He would be using my name in a way I do not want it to be used”, says the 2018 US Open Quarter Finalist.