How Elina Svitolina & Elena Rybakina had contrasting opinions about Wimbledon lifting ban on Russian players amid Ukraine war
Elina Svitolina and Elena Rybakina will lock horns in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday. The duo have had eventful outings in recent years, with the Kazakh winning the Championships in 2022 and the Ukrainian staging a semifinal run last year.
The last two tournaments also saw Wimbledon ban Russian and Belarusian players in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the decision has since been reversed.
Both Svitolina and Rybakina have addressed the issue on different occasions, with the most recent reaction coming from the former as she broke down after her fourth-round victory over Wang Xinyu at this year's grasscourt Major.
The Ukrainian wore a black ribbon to the court as a mark of protest against Russia’s latest offensive against her country in the form of missiles targeting the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. Tearing up after her win, Svitolina said,
"Today was one of the most difficult matches in my life. Mentally it was beyond anything I have ever faced but fails in comparison to what my people at home are going through. Wimbledon has become black for me today. All my love and thoughts are with Ukraine and our Ukrainian people."
This is not the first time that Svitolina has taken a public stance on the war. She first spoke about Wimbledon’s ban shortly after it was lifted for the 2023 edition.
In a February 2023 interview with BBC Sport, Elina Svitolina, who had just returned from maternity leave, criticised the move noting that people in Ukraine were still suffering. She dismissed the move to have Russian and Belarusian contingents compete under neutral flags as an inadequate measure before saying that politics has always been a big part of sports in Russia and that the two cannot be separated.
“I hope they will do the same thing and keep the ban in place. I don't think it should change. There are still people suffering and still Russian soldiers killing innocent Ukrainians. I don't think the neutral flag is changing anything. I see a lot of comments that sport should be out of politics but Russian sport is a big part of their politics,” she had said.
About a month later, Elena Rybakina also reacted to Wimbledon’s decision to lift the ban imposed in 2022 — the year that she won the Championships.
Speaking to the media after losing the Miami Open final to Petra Kvitova, the Kazakh said since the players from Russia and Belarus were being allowed to compete on the Tour elsewhere, the decision to allow them to play at Wimbledon felt right as well.
“I mean, they have been playing like this for all the tournaments,” Elena Rybakina had said after losing the Miami final to Petra Kvitova. “So it was [the] only Grand Slam they were not allowed, so I think that's the way that they are playing without any flags. I think it’s the right decision, I guess.”
Elina Svitolina's emotional road leading up to her Wimbledon showdown against Elena Rybakina
Elina Svitolina’s return to tennis has been an emotional one. The Ukrainian, ahead of last year’s Wimbledon, said she respected whatever decision the tournament organisers had taken and appeared fired up for the grasscourt Slam.
“Well, it's their decision. We have to respect the decision. So yeah, now it's time to get back on the court and kick some a** [laughs],” Svitolina had said.
The enthusiasm was not misinformed as she reached the semifinals with wins over the likes of World No.1 Iga Swiatek and three other Grand Slam champions — Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin and Venus Williams — all while carrying the emotional weight of the war waging back home.
Svitolina, like other players from Ukraine, has not shaken hands with players from Russia and Belarus. Rybakina’s Russian roots did creep into the larger conversation when she won Wimbledon in 2022 amid the ban, but Svitolina has had no qualms shaking hands with the Kazakh.
Rybakina has maintained her allegiance to Kazakhstan, her country of choice. The 25-year-old Moscow-born shifted base and became a Kazakh citizen in 2018.
After she won at Wimbledon, the Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev had issued a statement saying:
“It’s very nice. Well done Rybakina. We have won Wimbledon.”
Rybakina, however, had clarified that she represents Kazakhstan and acknowledged the support that she has received in the country, while adding that one cannot choose where to be born.
“I can only say that I represent Kazakhstan, I did not choose where to be born,” Rybakina had said following her win. “People trusted me, Kazakhstan supported me. Even today I heard the support from the stands. I saw the flags.”