Kudermetova latest Russian player to court criticism after being sighted back home at academy supporting Russian armed forces

Tuesday, 29 August 2023 at 00:43

Veronika Kudermetova has been accused of breaking neutrality policies spending time at a tennis academy which supports Russian armed forces.

The Ukrainian Tennis BTU account called out the World No.16 who was photographed on the hard courts back home before the US Open. She posed for a photo with her husband and friends.

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The account dug further into the academy itself which includes a Z-flag which denotes pro-war. While some Russian players have spoken against the war, Kudermetova has not commented.

But has been seen wearing sponsors in Tafneft. She took it off competing at Wimbledon and signed neutrality declarations. She joins a long list though with Dayana Yastremska citing Mirra Andreeva who liked pro Putin social media and asked the WTA to intervene to no avail.

It did not prove a lucky omen back home as she lost to Bernarda Pera on the opening day of the 2023 US Open.

"Veronika Kudermetova also thinks it's totally fine to spend her pre US Open time - out of all places - in the tennis academy which regularly calls people to join the Russian armed forces. Probably the Z-flags & pro-war avatars of this tennis academy are *neutral* too @wta," the account wrote.

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Ukrainian Tennis • BTU

@ukrtennis_eng

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Veronika Kudermetova also thinks it's totally fine to spend her pre @USOpen time - out of all places - in the tennis academy which regularly calls people to join the Russian armed forces. Probably the Z-flags & pro-war avatars of this tennis academy are *neutral* too @wta 🤷‍♀️

5:02 PM · Aug 27, 2023

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