Russia's Daniil Medvedev as expressed sympathy for Ukrainian tennis stars with the Indian Wells Masters having been tainted by issues arising from the ongoing war.
On Wednesday, the current world no.6 won through to the semi finals of the prestigious US tournament, overcoming a thumb injury to beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets. But the on-court action has been overshadowed by political matters off it, with Lesia Tsurenko withdrawing from her clash with Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka on Monday.
The Ukraine player later revealed that she had suffered a panic attack during talks with Steve Simon, the chief executive of the Women's Tennis Association. She later claimed to have been shocked by Simon's lack of empathy over the issue, saying he had expressed confidence that Russians and Belarusians will return to the Olympic Games next year.
In a separate saga, another Russian player in Anastasia Potapova received a warning after sporting a Spartak Moscow shirt ahead of her last 32 clash with Jessica Pegula. Her campaign ended there, with the American coming from a set down to prevail.
And after setting up a final four clash with home star Frances Tiafoe, Medvedev tackled the divisive issue. "I definitely do feel sorry for all the Ukrainian players and what they go through," he said in his media press conference. "For sure, the situation with Tsurenko, I don't know in detail. It's more for her and for maybe a little bit Sabalenka to answer."
However, he was less committal when asked about the notion of Russian players publicly condeming the invasion. "Talking about top players, of course we have a responsibility, and it depends how every person, individual, will do with it and will hold with it," he added. "I always said the same, I'm for peace all over the world, and that's all I can say."
Russian and Belarusian players are still not permitted to represent their own countries, still forced to compete as neutrals. And they still await confirmation over whether they will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year, after their controversial ban in 2022 which saw the tournament stripped of its ranking points as a result.
Medvedev, 27, was arguably the most high-profile absentee from SW19, and has since struggled for his best form in the Slams, failing to make the last eight at either the US or Australian Open. However, he has thus far been impressive in Indian Wells, and also downplayed suggestions his spilt thumb would affect him against Medvedev.
"The moment I cut it, I saw, I don't know if I should say it, kind of the meat," he explained. "That was not nice to see. They cleaned it now. I have a small tape. It should be fine."
