In the third round in Indian Wells, Lesya Tsurenko was supposed to meet Belarusian Aryna Sabalenko, but the Ukrainian said she withdrew due to a panic attack. The 33-year-old athlete said it all happened after a “shocking” discussion with Steve Simon, the head of the WTA.

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Lesya Tsurenko is stunned by Steve Simon’s opinion about the war in Ukraine

Lesy’s (95th WTA ranking, 23rd highest) retirement was cited for personal reasons, but the player admitted she made the decision after being “absolutely shocked” by Simon’s responses during their discussion about tennis’ response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The reason for my withdrawal is a panic attack. Officially it’s for “personal reasons”, but in reality I was having a hard time breathing. You can talk about hysteria. I had a conversation with WTA CEO Steve Simon a few days ago and I was absolutely shocked by what I heard.

He told me that he himself does not support the war, but if the players in Russia and Belarus support it, then it is only their opinion and the opinion of other people should not bother me. At the same time, he noted that if this happened to him and he was in my place, he would feel terrible.

He expressed confidence that Russians and Belarusians will return to the Olympics, and said that it will happen exactly as it is happening now in tennis. He also noted that fair play and Olympic principles were not violated, on the contrary.

When I asked him if he understood that he was telling me these things during an active phase of Russian military aggression in my country, he said yes and that it was his opinion.

I was completely shocked by this conversation, and in the last match (against Donna Vekic) it was incredibly difficult to play. When it was time to go on the field, I had a panic attack and I just couldn’t do it. I just mentally gave up” – Lesya Tsurenko for the Ukrainian site Big Tennis.

Tsurenko added that now she and her Ukrainian colleagues, to whom she relayed the conversation, question Simon’s position.

“Everyone is also shocked. We asked for a conference call with the WTA board to raise the question of how someone like Steve Simon can be the leader of the WTA and what we should do about it.

How can we understand whether our organization protects our rights or not. I don’t understand why such things need to be explained. It is very strange and very painful” – Lesya Tsurenko.

Oleksandr Dolgopolov accused Simon of supporting the genocide in Ukraine. Last year, the former ATP #13 learned to shoot a rifle and helped his country against the Russian invaders.

“Steve, instead of scaring Ukrainian women, be a man and speak publicly. People deserve to know that there is nothing wrong with supporting genocide, that it is normal” – Oleksiy Dolgopolov on Twitter.

WTA’s reaction to Steve Simon’s accusations of supporting the war in Ukraine

Although the WTA spoke out against the war in Ukraine, it made it clear that players should not suffer because of decisions made by their countries’ leaders.

“First of all, we recognize the emotions that Lesya and all our Ukrainian athletes have coped with and continue to cope with in this very difficult time.

We are witnessing an ongoing terrible war that continues to bring unforeseen circumstances with profound consequences for the world as well as for the WTA Global Circuit and its members.

WTA has consistently expressed our full support for Ukraine and strongly condemns the actions of the Russian government.

At the same time, the basic principle of the WTA remains, which is to ensure that individual athletes can participate in professional tennis competitions on the basis of merit and without any form of discrimination, without punishment due to decisions made by the leadership of their country.” This is stated in the WTA press release.