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Ukrainian tennis professional Lesia Tsurenko's coach Nikita Vlasov recently jumped on the bandwagon as she revealed further details in the ongoing saga involving WTA CEO Steve Simon's remarks on Russia-Ukraine.
A few days ago, Tsurenko revealed that she withdrew herself from the Indian Wells tournament due to a panic attack she suffered following her conversation with WTA CEO Simon. His surprising remarks on the Russia-Ukraine war left the Ukrainian in shock.
In an interview with Tribuna.com, Vlasov reflected on the ongoing saga and revealed further details on how Ukrainian players are treated after the war. Talking about how former World No. 9 Veronika Kudermetova's coach's comment on Russian President Vladimir Putin went unnoticed.
"We stopped waiting for something positive, probably almost immediately, back in April. The coach of the Russian tennis player Veronika Kudermetov, in conversations with other trainers from different countries, bluntly stated that Putin is handsome, and all of Europe should kneel."
"Both Russia and Putin - "the best politician of the 21st century" - are doing everything right. No one made any comments on this, everything suited everyone. And then we realized that with this attitude, waiting for some help for Ukrainians is pointless," Vlasov said.
Vlasov continued to share details about how the horrifying conversation with Simon affected Tsurenko. Elaborating on the same, Vlasov added how Lesia Tsurenko was crying profusely while thinking of Simon's comments on the war.
"Tsurenko was really bad and I even offered her to withdraw from the tournament and she replied that she wouldn't do that. Lesia went out for the match, the first set was just awful, lost it. Well, then squeezed her teeth and pulled out a duel I waited for 2h30' (after the match) for her to come out of the locker room."
"It turned out that all this time Lesia was crying, she had a hysteria. She later told me that Steve Simon stood in front of her eyes, she scrolled his words in her head that the Russians and Belarusians were free to think and talk about the war in Ukraine what they wanted. Even if they support the war – this is their right. She could not think of anything else."
"A person who theoretically supports the war, the killing of Ukrainians" - Vlasov reveals true reason for Lesia Tsurenko's withdrawal before facing Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells
Vlasov also shed some light on the real reason behind Lesia Tsurenko's withdrawal just before her match against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka at the Indian Wells Open.
Speaking about the same, Vlasov told how Tsurenko was busy preparing herself for the match, working with a psychologist, training physically, and everything.
"We were preparing for it, Lesia worked all day with a psychologist. I was completely sure that she wanted to play, that she would go to the court. We took apart tactics, prepared physically – in general, everything according to the standard program. Honestly, Lesia really wanted to play against Sabalenka. And not just play, but win," Vlasov said.
Vlasov further added how she found Lesia Tsurenko shedding tears in the locker room while constantly thinking about Simon's remarks.
"And here comes the evening of the match. I came back to the locker room to see Lesia and she was wet-eyed. I asked what happened. Lesia said her hands were shaking, she was going over Simon's words in her head again. And she added: "I realise that I'm going to play against Sabalenka now - a person who theoretically supports the war, the killing of Ukrainians."
She further added that despite Lesia Tsurenko being asked to prepare herself to face Sabalenka on court, Vlasov decided not to go for it.
"All this was 20 minutes before going to court. After some time, Lesia seemed to calm down, but when she was told to prepare for the court, she was covered again. It just happened hysteria. And then I already told the organizers that I would not release the player to be twisted on the court, Vlasov added.
Lesia Tsurenko received support from compatriot and former player Alexandr Dolgopolov.
