Russian tennis star gets fan draped in Ukraine flag kicked out by Cincinnati Open security
Russian tennis star gets fan draped in Ukraine flag kicked out by Cincinnati Open security: A tennis player from Russia lodged a complaint against a fan at the Cincinnati Open who was waving a Ukrainian flag and was subsequently asked to leave the competition.
After a series of “aggressive” contacts with security officials, the concerned spectator was eventually coerced into putting the flag in her vehicle under the threat that she would be ejected from the premises. Additionally, she was warned that the authorities would be contacted.
It has come to light that a Russian tennis star was responsible for a spectator being kicked out of a qualifying match at the Western and Southern Open because they were wearing a Ukrainian flag draped over their shoulders.
Lola
Lola, the concerned spectator, was confronted on two consecutive occasions by a WTA umpire as well as security personnel working at the Cincinnati tournament.
On Court 8, during the first set of the match between Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova, one of the players voiced a protest about Lola to the chair umpire. The match was between two Russian players. Lola was also seen wearing a traditional flower wreath crown from Ukraine, which is referred to as a vinok. She was observing the match in complete silence, not causing any disturbances.
After receiving the complaint, the WTA umpire Morgane Lara approached Lola and informed her that it was “not pleasant” to display the flag in the stands.
Lola responded that it was “not nice to invade a country,” which the WTA umpire agreed was an appropriate response. Things got worse when one of the security marshals for the event, who was standing on the court at the time, became “aggressive” and threatened to call the police if the spectator did not leave the stands.
Lola made the decision to leave the stands and stroll freely around the grounds with a friend who is Ukrainian, despite the fact that other viewers at the court came to the fan’s defense and highlighted their right to free speech. After a little more than half an hour had passed, the head of security for the competition confronted her about the size of her flag, which was larger than the specifications that were permitted by the rules.
After some time had passed, the security guard led Lola to her vehicle and demanded that she leave the flag in the vehicle before being allowed to re-enter the grounds.
Statement
After receiving a request for comment from Express Sport, the Western & Southern Open provided its reaction by referring to the flag regulation.
“According to the bag policy for the Western and Southern Open, which can be seen on the tournament’s official website, flags or banners that are larger than 18 by 18 inches are not permitted. In light of this, the woman was requested to bring her enormous flag back to her vehicle, as stated in the statement.
Since March 1, when the ATP, WTA, and ITF issued a joint statement announcing the news in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian tennis players have been competing as neutrals without any mention of their country or flag. This has been the case ever since the invasion of Ukraine.