By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday May 14, 2023
Aside from being a force on the court, where she is the clear-cut No.1 and the favorite to win a third Roland-Garros title later this spring in Paris, Iga Swiatek continues to be a huge supporter of Ukrainian players in the locker room.
We were reminded of that fact after Swiatek finished off her 6-2, 6-0 victory over Lesia Tsurenko on Sunday in Rome. Tsurenko had kind words for Swiatek after the match, and afterwards the World No.1 spoke about the interaction.
“She thanked me for supporting Ukraine, but she did it also before in Miami. It's really nice and I really appreciate that,” Swiatek said.
The Pole, who has been adamant of her support of Ukraine since the war began in February of 2022, said she doesn’t need to be thanked. Last year Swiatek helped raise 420,000 Euros when she held a charity event, Iga Swiatek and Friends, in Krakow’s Tauron Arena.
This spring she also spoke out at Indian Wells, calling on the WTA Tour to provide more support to the Ukrainian players in the locker room.
"I feel like tennis, from the beginning, could do a bit better in showing everybody that tennis players are against the war," Swiatek told BBC. "I feel they could do more to make that point and tell their views, and help us cope a bit better in the locker room because the atmosphere there is pretty tense."
The Pole is still wearing a ribbon to support Ukraine – a tradition that started once Russia’s brutal invasion began last year. She says she will not stop wearing it until there is peace.
"I know that many players played with ribbons at the beginning of the war where all the fuss was a little bit more loud," Swiatek said. "I realized that some of them took them off, which is for me pretty weird because there is still war, there are people still suffering. I'm going to wear it until the situation is going to get better.
"It's also how media works, how it fusses up, then goes a little bit down. Hopefully still players are going to be more supportive."
Her support, she says, will continue without fail.
“I think there's nothing to kind of thank for because for me it's pretty obvious that we should support Ukraine. I will do that until the war is going to end.
“I know that they are in a tough situation, so I have a lot of empathy to all the Ukrainian players.”