MASON, Ohio — Security at the Western & Southern Open in Mason required one fan to remove the Ukrainian flag she was draped in while watching a match between two Russian players, according to multiple reports.
Ben Rothenberg, senior editor at Racquet Magazine, tweeted that a girl named Lola was wearing a Ukrainian wreath with the country's flag wrapped around her body while silently watching a match between Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova on Sunday.
Video posted on Twitter by Trashy Tennis shows a Women's Tennis Association umpire then talking to the girl, saying in part, "It's not nice." She can then be heard responding, "It's not nice to invade a country."
Watching the communist @WTA at work was something…they made her leave for silently protesting the Russian Invasion. @CincyTennis @TheDolgo pic.twitter.com/prUzMpLmyC
— Trashy Tennis (@TrashyTennis) August 14, 2022
Rothenberg reported the security marshal on the court then told the spectator she had to leave. After she left, security reportedly found her and told her she could not have the flag because it is prohibited.
...He pulled out a rules document and told her that her flag was above regulation size, which is 18x18 inches.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 15, 2022
This, of course, was not the issue that had started this confrontation, which was a WTA umpire acting on a Russian player's complaint about what the flag represented.
The Western & Southern Open website states any flags or banners larger than 18 x 18 are not allowed. Rothenberg, though, said similarly sized U.S. and Serbian flags have been brought to matches and the policy has "never been enforced with any regularity."
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, tennis competitions have responded to athletes from Russia and Belarus differently. The All England Club banned Russian and Belarusian tennis players from Wimbledon, while they were allowed to compete at the French Open as individual competitors without their country or flag identified. The US Tennis Association will similarly allow men's and women's players to compete without their flag at the US Open.
Western & Southern issued a statement in April saying it would follow the policies of the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association, which states "banning athletes from competing solely based on their country of origin is not allowed." There are multiple Russian or Belarusian players competing in Mason this week, including the world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev.
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