​Anastasia Potapova made an ambiguous appearance in the Indian Wells third-round match with Jessica Pegula, where she appeared in a Spartak Moscow T-shirt.

Iga SvyatekPhoto: Sydney Low/CSM/Shutterstock Editorial/Profimedia

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Iga Sviatek reacted to the gesture of Anastasia Potapova from Indian Wells – the Russian woman came in a T-shirt of Spartak Moscow

Anastasia Potapova (28 WTA) lost in the third round of Indian Wells to Jessica Pegula (3 WTA), but the Russian scored in the section of controversial performances.

In the context of the war that Russia started in Ukraine, any gesture can be interpreted.

The player from Russia took to the court not in her usual tennis uniform, but in the T-shirt of Moscow Spartak, her favorite team. Potapova said she supports the 2017 team, but could not name a single player in the Russian squad.

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The press specified that her gesture was provocative in the context of war.

Immediately after the success achieved against Bianca Andreescu (36 WTA), WTA leader Iga Sviatek commented on Anastasia Potapova’s gesture.

“Frankly, I was surprised because I thought that she (N. Potapova) realized that she should not, even if she is a fan of the team, express her opinion at such moments.

We did not know what the WTA would do and what the consequences of such behavior would be.

I talked to the WTA representatives and learned that there will probably be less of these situations because they will explain to other players that no team from Russia can be promoted now, that calmed me down a bit.

On the other hand, I believe that such a message should have been sent much earlier.

At the beginning of the war there was great chaos in the locker room. We didn’t know how to approach everything. It causes in such situations.” – said Iga Svyatek, Newsunrolled reports.