By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge dismissed a lawsuit by Ukrainian tennis player Lesia Tsurenko accusing the WTA Tour and former chief executive Steve Simon of inflicting mental abuse over their handling of Russian and Belarusian players following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Tsurenko, a former top-25 player, sued over the WTA’s alleged failure to uphold Simon’s promise to ban Russian and Belarusian players who supported the war, and prohibit “conduct detrimental” to the tour and the game’s integrity.
The 36-year-old cited instances where a Russian player wore a patch for a sanctioned Russian oil company, and said Simon told her it was “OK” for others to support the war. Tsurenko said a “panic attack” caused her to withdraw from a match against Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka, now the world’s No. 1 female player, at the 2023 BNP Paribas tournament in Indian Wells, California.
But in a decision on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in Manhattan said the WTA was best equipped to decide what qualified as detrimental conduct, and Tsurenko did not show it had duties to ban players or keep the game free from emotional abuse.
“When courts have found that sports associations owe a duty to their players, those duties relate to ensuring players’ physical safety, not their emotional wellbeing,” Buchwald wrote.
Buchwald also said the WTA employed “reasoned decision making” following the invasion, including by banning players from competing under Russia’s and Belarus’ flags.
Tsurenko sought damages for breach of contract and negligence, including the infliction of emotional distress. Her lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday. The WTA’s lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.
In seeking a dismissal, the defendants said they had consistently condemned Russia’s actions and taken significant steps to support Ukrainian players.
They also said that like many sports leagues, the WTA believed individual athletes “should not be punished because of the actions of their countries’ governments.”
Tsurenko has spoken frequently about the challenges of competing on tour since Russia’s invasion.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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