Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko said she was “blind” for a long time after realizing how Russian players actually feel about Ukraine.
Rublev sounded off on Wimbledon for banning Russian players, calling their decision “illogical” and describing it as “complete discrimination” against Russian players.
“The reasons they (Wimbledon) gave us had no sense, they were illogical,” Rublev said, per France24.
“What is happening now is complete discrimination against us.
“Banning Russian or Belarusian players….will not change anything.
“To give all the prize money to humanitarian help, to the families who are suffering, to the kids who are suffering, I think that would do something, at least a bit.
“Tennis will, in that case, be the first and only sport who donates that amount of money and it will be Wimbledon so they will take all the glory.”
Tsurenko responds to Rublev’s comments
“That man is not interested in what is happening in his own country. At all. He also is not interested in what is happening in the neighboring country. Impressive,” Tsurenko tweeted.
“What an abyss between our states and people, that I have not noticed for so long! I so regret it. I was blind.”
That man is not interested in what is happening in his own country. At all. He also is not interested in what is happening in the neighboring country. Impressive 🤦♀️
What an abyss between our states and people, that I have not noticed for so long! I so regret it. I was blind 😔 pic.twitter.com/4arO94BOov
— Lesia Tsurenko (@LTsurenko) April 23, 2022
Also, Tsurenko retweeted Alexandr Dolgopolov’s message, in which he called Rublev a “liar” and a “hypocrite.”
In an interview with Tribuna, Tsurenko said she knows “a few players who support the Russian invasion.”
“I don’t know what will happen next if I get someone in the draw, who, as I know, supports (Russia’s actions). I will act according to the situation. I don’t know exactly which (Russian WTA players) supports and who doesn’t. I know a few players who support it, but I’m afraid to find out there are more a lot of them. I’m really afraid. It will be unpleasant, a huge moral blow for me personally,” Tsurenko told Tribuna.