Anastasia Potapova of Russia shouldn’t have publicly supported her nation while it was invading Ukraine, according to world number one Iga Swiatek, who also chastised the athlete for attending Indian Wells wearing a Spartak Moscow soccer jersey. When Potapova entered the court on Sunday for her third-round match against third-seeded American Jessica Pegula while wearing the uniform of the Russian Premier League team, it provoked uproar.
“To be honest, I was surprised,” Swiatek told. “I thought the player realised that she should not, even if she is a fan of the team, show her views in this way at such times.”
“I’ve talked to the WTA and in a way I found out that there should be less such situations because they will explain to other players that you can’t promote any Russian teams these days, which reassured me a bit,” she added.
“On the other hand, I think these situations unfortunately happen because this announcement should have taken place much earlier. There was a lot of chaos in the locker room at the beginning of the war.
Swiatek in Indian Wells, ranking, and results in 2023
Ranked no.1, Iga owns a compiled 15-3 win-loss record in 2023. Iga is now having a run in Indian Wells where she beat the world no.56 Claire Liu 6-0 6-1, the world no.36 Bianca Vanessa Andreescu 6-3 7-61 and the world no.77 Emma Raducanu 6-3 6-1.
Iga Swiatek will come up against the world no.83 Sorana Cirstea in the quarter. Their head to head is 1-0 for Swiatek.
Iga clinched 1 title in 2023 in Doha. Iga got to the final in Dubai (Dubai Duty Free Championships).
Iga won 12 titles in her career: 7 on hard courts and 5 on clay courts. (See the list of her titles)
Swiatek has scheduled to compete next in Miami (Miami Open). She will start the tournament from the main draw that will commence on the 21st of March.
Anastasia Potapova in 2023
Ranked no.28 (career-high), the Russian played her last match on the 12th of March when she lost to world no.3 Jessica Pegula 3-6 6-4 7-5 in the 3rd round in Indian Wells (draw).
Presently, during this year Anastasia owns a compiled 12-7 record. Potapova has won 1 title in Linz.
Potapova is scheduled to play next in Miami (Miami Open). She will start from the main draw that will commence on the 21st of March.
Iga Swiatek and Anastasia Potapova have never clashed against each other.
