For the first time, the world's best tennis player did not support Ukraine and explained herself

The world No. 1 Iga Świątek, who has been constantly expressing her support for Ukraine since February last year, took to the court without a yellow and blue ribbon for the first time since then. At the Stuttgart Open 2023 tournament, the 21-year-old athlete was spotted without any Ukrainian symbols.

This incident attracted the attention of the tennis world, forcing Świątek to comment. The Pole said that she still supports Ukraine's early victory in the war with Russia, and the incident with the missing ribbon was due solely to her inattention.

"I forgot it. It was just my stupidity. Nothing has changed. Yes, I forgot it in the locker room," Iga said at a press conference.

The Polish athlete also expressed her opinion on the recent decision of the IOC to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in global sporting events. She stated that while human rights are important, principles related to war should not be violated.

"Human rights are important, but I always feel that there are values that need to be respected, and war is not something we want. I have been quite open about this from the very beginning," she said.

The three-time Grand Slam champion also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the current situation is more difficult than at the beginning of the war. She noted that last year, stricter measures were introduced against athletes, including tennis players from Russia and Belarus, which are now being eased, despite the fact that nothing has changed in the war.

"The situation is quite complicated now. At first, they were banned in other sports, but not in tennis. Then they eased the ban a little bit. Russian and Belarusian athletes are starting to be allowed, which is quite strange because I see that nothing has changed in Ukraine," she said.

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