Russian tennis player Anastasia Potapova has vowed never to wear a Spartak Moscow jersey again on court after she was criticized for doing so during Indian Wells.
The 22-year-old, ranked No. 25 in the world, has faced backlash over a photo she posted to her Instagram that showed her wearing a Russian soccer jersey during last month’s California Championships.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was the most famous tennis star to speak out on the matter, insisting that Potapova “shouldn’t show her opinions that way” due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Potapova received an official warning from the Women’s Tennis Association, insisting that she had not intentionally broken any rules.
“There was no fine, it was just a warning – they said they wouldn’t do it again,” Potapova told TASS, Russia’s state-owned news agency.
Anastasia Potapova received a warning from the WTA over this photo she shared on Instagram where the Russian tennis star is seen wearing a Spartak Moscow jersey.
Iga Swiatek led the criticism towards Potapova saying that she “shouldn’t show her opinions this way” with Russian players not being allowed to carry their countries’ flags despite being able to compete.
If this happens again, then I will either not get points for the tournament in which I did it, or I will be fined $5,000 (£4,000). Naturally, the choice would have fallen on money, not points.
I don’t like breaking any rules on purpose. Therefore, this will not happen the second time. I respect where I work.
Russian and Belarusian players were allowed to continue competing on both the WTA and ATP tours, although they could not fly their countries’ flags.
“Honestly, I was surprised,” said Polish tennis star Swiatek, who wore the Ukrainian flag on her hat during the matches.
She added, “I thought the player realized that she, even if she was a fan of the team, should not express her opinions in such a way at times like this.
I talked to the WTA and somehow figured out that there should be fewer such situations because they would explain to other players that you can’t promote any Russian team these days, which reassured me a bit.
Potapova insisted she didn’t mean to ‘intentionally’ break the rules after being told she would receive a fine or lose rating points if she were to wear them in court again
Poland’s world number 1 Swiatek is often seen wearing the Ukraine flag on her cap at matches
On the one hand, I think these situations unfortunately happen because this announcement should have happened much earlier. There was a lot of chaos in the locker room at the start of the war.
It was not clear how to deal with everything that causes such unpleasant situations. I think if there had been better leadership from the start we might have avoided situations like this.
After Indian Wells, there was another standout moment involving Potapova at the Miami Open later last month.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with Potapova after the Russian won 6-1, 6-1.
Kostyuk refused to participate in the usual post-match handshake and went straight back to her seat, before hurriedly exiting the court.
The victorious Potapova was left to go to the referee on her own and shook hands with the official before walking out herself.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with Potapova after losing to the Russian at the Miami Open last month.
Kostyuk has shown her feelings before, refusing to shake hands or take a picture with Russia’s Varvara Gracheva after beating her to win the ATX Open in Texas.
After the defeat to Potapova, the world No. 38 said of the refusal to shake hands: ‘There’s clearly tension – we’re not friends. We are at war right now.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus are due to return to Wimbledon this summer after the tournament confirmed it would allow participants from the two countries, who were not allowed to play last year.
“I think this is a nice decision for us, of course,” Potapova said. Because no one just wants to miss a Grand Slam tournament.
It was very unexpected and interesting. Again, no one could influence this situation, we just had to wait and hope. We’re really glad that happened.
