{"id":299089,"date":"2023-11-28T15:54:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T15:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/?p=299089"},"modified":"2023-11-28T15:54:42","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T15:54:42","slug":"wta-not-supportive-of-controversial-russian-event-as-players-face-no-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usasportsradar.com\/tennis\/wta-not-supportive-of-controversial-russian-event-as-players-face-no-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA ‘not supportive’ of controversial Russian event as players face no penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The WTA has confirmed that it is \u201cnot supportive\u201d of an exhibition tournament taking place in Russia this week. However, the women\u2019s tour will not be penalising their players for competing in the controversial event, which is being staged by state-owned energy giant Gazprom. It comes after several stars signed up to play, including world No 30 Jasmine Paolini and Kazakh ace Yulia Putintseva.<\/p>\n

The Northern Palmyra Trophies exhibition tournament is being held in St Petersburg later this week, with a host of top players taking part. Regular tennis tournaments are currently not allowed to be staged in Russia, with the ATP and WTA suspending official events when the war broke out in Ukraine last year.<\/p>\n

As an exhibition, the Gazprom-backed contest is allowed to take place in the nation and has attracted some big names. The event has sparked outrage on social media and the women\u2019s tennis tour has now confirmed that players involved will not face any penalties – even though they don\u2019t support the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is not affiliated with the WTA nor is the WTA supportive of the event being held,\u201d the WTA said in a statement. \u201cPlayers 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As well as Paolini and Putintseva, several Russian players including Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova will be competing. On the men\u2019s side, Russian world No 15 Karen Khachanov will be playing alongside the likes of Adrian Mannarino and Roberto Bautista Agut. Players are set to be split into teams, with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Nikolay Davydenko among the captains.<\/p>\n

St Petersburg used to be the host city of a regular ATP 250 event but the tournament was abolished and moved to Kazakhstan from 2022 onwards in response to the invasion of Ukraine. A WTA 500 event, St. Petersburg Ladies’ Trophy, was moved to Ostrava in 2022.<\/p>\n