Svitolina Criticizes ‘Useless’ WTA amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, reacts after a shot against Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, during action at the Charleston Open tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP)
Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, reacts after a shot against Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, during action at the Charleston Open tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP)
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Svitolina Criticizes ‘Useless’ WTA amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, reacts after a shot against Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, during action at the Charleston Open tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP)
Elina Svitolina, of Ukraine, reacts after a shot against Yulia Putintseva, of Kazakhstan, during action at the Charleston Open tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., Monday, April 3, 2023. (AP)

Ukrainian players do not get enough support from women's tennis governing body WTA amid Russia's invasion of their country, Elina Svitolina said on Tuesday.

Svitolina, back on the tour at the Charleston Open after a maternity break, spoke to support fellow Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko, who said she withdrew from the Indian Wells tournament because of a panic attack brought on by a conversation the 33-year-old had days earlier with WTA chief executive Steve Simon about tennis's response to the Russian invasion.

"We are afraid, we feel empty. What is happening to Lesia is very sad. People who haven't experienced it can't really understand what it feels like to have no home, to feel safe nowhere, to have family in Ukraine, under the bombs, to know that Ukrainian cities are being destroyed. It's both fear and a great emptiness," Svitolina, who was the world number one when she took a break from the tour to give birth, told French sports daily l'Equipe.

"The WTA should have done more, much more, on many issues. Now it's too late. There have been a lot of press releases, a lot of interviews. It was useless," she said.

The WTA, along with men's body ATP, welcomed Wimbledon organizers' decision to lift a ban on Russian and Belarusian players last Friday, allowing them to compete in the grasscourt Grand Slam this year as "neutral" athletes.

Last week, Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was wrong to argue that Russian and Belarus athletes can return to international competitions because they already compete without friction in some sports.

Asked what her reaction would be if they would be allowed to take part in next year's Olympics in Paris, Svitolina said: "I don't think about it. It's up to the Olympic Committee and the Ukrainian Committee to think about it and do their job! My job, as a player, is to get ready."



Dortmund Loses Again with Early Exit from German Cup to Increase Pressure on Coach

(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024.  (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
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Dortmund Loses Again with Early Exit from German Cup to Increase Pressure on Coach

(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024.  (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
(L-R) Dortmund's German midfielder #10 Julian Brandt, Dortmund's Austrian midfielder #20 Marcel Sabitzer and Dortmund's German midfielder #08 Felix Nmecha react after the German Cup (DFB Pokal) 2nd round football match between VfL Wolfsburg and BVB Borussia Dortmund, in Wolfsburg, northern Germany on October 29, 2024. (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)

Borussia Dortmund's losing run hit a new low with elimination from the German Cup in a 1-0 second-round loss to Wolfsburg on Tuesday to increase the pressure on coach Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund's injury-hit team struggled to generate scoring chances in a drab 90 minutes before Wolfsburg forward Jonas Wind settled the game in extra time with a 116th-minute goal, The Associated Press reported.
That consigned last season's Champions League runner-up Dortmund to a third straight loss in all competitions, a fifth defeat in a row in away games, and its earliest cup exit since the 2010-11 season.
“It's not about my personal situation, it's about moving the club forward, getting back to winning ways as soon as possible, winning our games,” the 36-year-old Sahin, who took over from Edin Terzic in the off-season, told broadcaster Sky. “Believe me, it's extremely bitter and disappointing for me too that we're in a situation like this right now, but we can't do anything other than keep going.”
The frustration was visible as goalkeeper Gregor Kobel hurled his gloves against the bench after the final whistle.
Even playing extra time was a problem for Dortmund, given its lengthy injury list.
Midfielders Pascal Gross and Emre Can had to fill gaps in the defense and Sahin, who was already under pressure after Dortmund's losses at Real Madrid and Augsburg last week, made only one substitution in the 90 minutes, bringing on American forward Cole Campbell for only his second senior Dortmund game.
Marcel Sabitzer made an extra-time cameo off the bench despite carrying a back injury, but his most notable contribution was losing the ball to Wind for the Danish striker to score Wolfsburg's goal.
Dortmund's busy schedule doesn't let up with a game against Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday and a visit from Austria's Sturm Graz in the Champions League next week.
Leverkusen and Leipzig progress Last season's German Cup winner Bayer Leverkusen cruised into the third round with a 3-0 win over second-tier Elversberg. Patrik Schick scored twice in the first nine minutes and Aleix Garcia converted a free kick for his first goal since joining Leverkusen from Girona for this season.
Leipzig beat St. Pauli 4-2 to avoid a repeat of last season's second-round exit when it was the two-time defending champion in the cup.
Leipzig had a 3-1 lead after 30 minutes but St. Pauli got back into the game with Eric Smith's lob in the 58th and was pushing to level the score. The 19-year-old Norway winger Antonio Nusa dribbled past two defenders and scored Leipzig's fourth to secure the win.
Stuttgart had to work hard to break down last season's cup finalist Kaiserslautern in a 2-1 win settled by Chris Führich's first goal of the season in the 75th.
Second-tier Cologne upset Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel 3-0, while Augsburg beat second-division Schalke 3-0 to reach the third round for the first time since 2018-19. The lowest-ranked team left in the competition, fourth-tier Kickers Offenbach, was beaten 2-0 by second-division Karlsruhe.
Ten-man Jahn Regensburg held on to beat Greuther Fürth 1-0 after goalscorer Rasim Bulic was sent off for a dangerous tackle.