In this 2023 tennis Australian Open, there are players who compete without a flag. One reached the women’s singles final on the 28th. 스포츠토토

It is not that they abandoned their homeland and chose ‘statelessness’. It’s not like the country is gone.

This is because the aftermath of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which began last year, was prolonged and the aftermath of the war also affected the tennis world.

The Russo-Ukrainian War
The Russian-Ukrainian war, which began in February last year, had a great impact on the tennis world. In particular, the biggest change was made to players from Russia, the invading country, and Belarus, who were sympathetic to it.

The men’s professional tennis (ATP) tour, the women’s professional tennis (WTA) tour, and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) will immediately allow Belarus players, Russia’s “allies”, to compete, but not allow them to hoist the flag or play the national anthem. took action not to From this point on, the websites of ATP and WTA tours, the websites of various major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open), and furthermore, even in relay broadcasts, only empty white ‘blanks’ were placed next to the players’ names where the national flag should be displayed. it started.

Wimbledon, which was held between June and July of last year, caused a big stir by blocking Russian and Belarusian players from even participating in the tournament. At the time, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which hosted Wimbledon, discussed with the British government and banned players from Russia and Belarus from participating.

Men’s tennis twins, Rafael Nadal (37, Spain, 2nd in the world) and Novak Djokovic (36, Serbia, 5th) opposed such an act. “I think it is very unfair to my colleagues,” Nadal said. “It is not their fault that there is a war going on at this moment.” Djokovic also said, “I do not support Wimbledon’s decision. It was not fair and it was not the right decision,” he said, resignedly, saying, “I can’t help it.”

Eventually, the ATP and WTA fined Wimbledon organizers. Also, ranking points were not awarded to players for their performance at Wimbledon. But after all the water had already been spilled.

Since then, when Russian and Belarusian players competed against Ukrainian players in competitions, it always became a hot topic outside of the game. There were many cases in which Ukrainian players refused to shake hands with their opponents, and there were out-of-field fights and political friction among fans.

At the Australian Open, stadium security staff are confiscating the national flags held by fans of both countries from the stands.