"There are players who despite everything compete and represent the aggressor state": Elina Svitolina says there are no neutral athletes in tennis

Monday, 21 September 2026 at 18:30

Elina Svitolina says that there are no neutral athletes in tennis during an interview with the BBC in Ukraine on September 20 as she heads towards the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

A tournament where she will anchor the side with a certain Marta Kostyuk out injured, and so it will be on Svitolina's shoulders to give Ukraine the leg up they need to figure in the reckoning this week in Shenzhen.

But alongside that is the continued fight for Ukraine with the ongoing war with Russia, and for Svitolina, there is no such thing as neutral athletes, as well as those who have switched countries but still are Russian-born.

Daria Kasatkina has often been the exception to this rule, with the Russian-born athlete not being able to return to her homeland due to being gay and also speaking out on the regime. She has often championed those in Ukraine and has often been immune from similar jibes.

But just this week, Anna Blinkova, for instance, despite living in France, has defected, with other high-profile examples such as Anastasia Potapova, which seemed to come out of left field given that the Russian has taken part in Gazprom exhibitions and showed no signs of wanting to leave her nation.

Elina Svitolina anchors Ukraine this week.

Often though, what comes with being Russian is that getting a visa is hard to come by, and also sanctions are often placed, so Svitolina has called out those who in reality are doing this solely for their own benefit.

"For me there are no neutral athletes," said Svitolina. “For me there are players who, despite everything, compete and represent the aggressor state. As for those who changed citizenship but never voiced their position, I also see them as people who did it solely for their own benefit. It's hard to go out and play against them, but at the same time it's powerful motivation—to destroy them on the court."

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No sport outside of politics—Svitolina

But for Svitolina, she said that there is no sport outside of politics and that in reality for the most part many of the top Russians are used as symbols of pride.

Or for instance, in the case of Veronika Kudermetova, she was used to publicizing companies back home and trained at the CSKA tennis club and had to have her Taftnet sponsorship removed at Wimbledon. So for Svitolina, they go hand in hand and can't be separated contrary to popular belief.

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Ukraine will play Belgium in the quarterfinals between 22 and 27 September. Svitolina, like many, will then stay in China to play WTA tournaments before the season closes.

"So sport can't exist outside politics? No, the war has been going on for almost five years, and so much has already been done," BBC quotes the Ukrainian player as saying. “We basically understand that Russia and Belarus have always used their athletes as a source of pride.”

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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