International Governing Bodies of Tennis Condemn Russia’s Invasion, Impose Suspensions

The WTA, ATP and ITF took action on future events including Russian and Belarusian athletes.

The international governing bodies of tennis have released a joint statement, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and taking immediate action on future events. 

“A deep sense of distress, shock and sadness has been felt across the entire tennis community following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the past week,” the statement says. “Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, and we commend the many tennis players who have spoken out and taken action against this unacceptable act of aggression. We echo their calls for the violence to end and peace to return.

“The safety of the tennis community is our most immediate collective priority. The focus of the WTA and ATP in particular in recent days has been on contacting current and former players, and other members of the tennis community from Ukraine and neighboring countries, to check on their safety and offer any assistance.”

In the news release, the WTA and ATP boards decided to suspend the combined event set in Moscow this upcoming October. The ITF board has also suspended both Russia and Belarus’s Tennis Federation memberships and withdrawn them from entries in ITF team competitions until further notice. Athletes in both countries are allowed to compete in international competitions, but not under the name or flag of their countries. 

In addition, all ITF tournaments in both Russia and Belarus have been canceled indefinitely. 

The news comes at the heels of several players around the world condemning the attack on Ukraine. Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina announced she would not compete against Russian or Belarusian players. Russia’s Andrey Rublev wrote ‘No War Please’ on a camera after his semi-final win in the Dubai Tennis Championship. 

Other players were directly impacted; Dayana Yastremska fled Ukraine with her sister and arrived safely in France on Friday. 

ATP had previously postponed the Moscow CH 80 tournament, scheduled to start at the end of February in Russia.