Dayana Yastremska says she is ‘upset’ with tennis authorities after claiming they declined her request to take action against Mirra Andreeva who is accused of liking social media posts concerning the war in Ukraine.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, the world No.145 said she requested that sanctions be taken against the Russian 16-year-old. Andreeva is said to have liked a series of pro-Russian jokes concerning the war with the website BTU posting one of the videos the tennis player is said to have liked. This particular video is of Vladimir Putin with the commentary saying ‘The only thing that bothers us is how not to catch a cold during your funeral’ which is aimed at those in Ukraine.
“I wanted to post about a recent situation in Switzerland which I find hardly acceptable. The tennis instances are unfortunately remaining indifferent to the atrocities committed in Ukraine,” Yastremska wrote on Instagram.
“Recently, I asked that sanctions be taken against Mira Andreeva for having liked social media posts that clearly concerned the atrocities committed against Ukrainians and the WTA simply indicated it would not intervene. I am upset but remain committed to fighting for my country, my family and my friends in Ukraine,” she added.
Russia launched its ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine on February 24th 2022. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine says they have been able to verify that at least 9000 civilians have been killed in the conflict.
In response to the war, Russian and Belarussian players are only allowed to compete on the Tour under a neutral status and they are currently suspended from playing in team events such as the Davis Cup. However, both the ATP and WTA have ruled out calls for a ban to be implemented with them arguing that players shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their regimes.
It is not the first time the WTA has been criticized over their approach to the current situation in Eastern Europe. Earlier this year, Lesia Tsurenko said she withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells due to a panic attack she had following a discussion with Tour chief Steve Simon. Simon is alleged to have told her that he doesn’t support the war but she shouldn’t get upset if Russian or Belarussian players do as it is only their opinion.
Andreeva defeated Yastremska 6-2, 6-0, in the first round of the Lausanne Open earlier this week before getting knocked out in the second round by Anna Bondar. She has not publicly responded to Yastremska’s call for action to be taken against her.
