WTA, the governing body for Women’s Tennis, has decided to not impose any sanctions on players taking part in an exhibition event in Russia this weekend. The Northern Palmyra Trophies will be held from 1st to 3rd December in St. Petersburg.
The second edition of the tournament will feature prominent players from both the WTA and the Men’s ATP Tour. Former French and U.S. Open quarter-finalist Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, Russia’s Anastasia Potapova and former Roland Garros quarter-finalist Veronika Kudermetova will take part in the tournament.
ATP players include world number 15 Karen Khachanov of Russia, Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and France’s Adrian Mannarino will also play in the tournament according to the event’s website.
“This event is not affiliated with the WTA nor is the WTA supportive of the event being held,” WTA said in an official statement as quoted by Reuters.
“Players compete on the WTA Tour as independent contractors and, at their discretion, have the ability to participate in an exhibition without penalty during the off-season,” the statement further added.
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When the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, Wimbledon banned the players from Russia and Belarus to take part in the event in 2021. With the players ban, ranking points were also scrapped from the Grand Slam event.
The ban was subsequently lifted next year. However till now, the players from both the nations were made to play under a neutral flag across all the ATP and WTA events.
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