Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka has been excluded from playing in the ‘Tennis Plays for Peace Exhibition’ at the US Open, as per the United States Tennis Association. ‘Tennis Plays for Peace’ is an initiative to bring the tennis community and fans together to support the humanitarian relief efforts for the war in Ukraine.
The endeavour was scheduled to start on Wednesday with Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and John McEnroe amongst others including Azarenka. But then the USTA released a statement addressing that Azarenka will not be taking part in the event. “In the last 24 hours, after careful consideration and dialogue with all parties involved, Victoria Azarenka will not be participating in our ‘Tennis Plays for Peace Exhibition’ this evening,” the statement said.
“Vika is a strong player leader and we appreciate her willingness to participate,” it said. “Given the sensitivities to Ukrainian players, and the ongoing conflict, we believe this is the right course of action for us.” Azarenka also addressed her exclusion in a tweet later, saying: “Never take for granted the impact of a kind gesture.”
Talking about the initiative, the Tennis Plays for Peace at the 2022 US Open raised $1.2 million for the Ukrainian relief effort. During the event, Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek talked about facing John McEnroe as she paired up with Rafael Nadal.
“On the last point [he] told me that John is going to serve wide and he was wrong. He’s wrong sometimes, wow!” she said as Nadal laughed. “I’m pretty happy that we are united and that we as public persons and athletes are doing so much. For sure the event that I did in Poland was a great experience for me. That was the first event that gained so much attention in tennis in Poland,” Swiatek said.
She further talked about feeling delighted to raise money for the affected and using her sport for the best. “I’m pretty happy that we raised so much money for kids in Ukraine, mostly because their lives have changed and it’s right next to my country, so I was pretty emotional and pretty happy that I can use my sport that way and that we’re doing this today. It’s great”, s he concluded.
