Warsaw, Poland –
Russia’s Interior Ministry has announced that Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva has been banned from entering Poland. She was scheduled to participate in the WTA 250 tournament in Warsaw.
A statement on the ministry’s website said border guards on Friday blocked the entry of the former world’s second-largest, who had flown in from Belgrade on a French visa. She remained in the transit zone at Warsaw airport and flew to Podgorica, Montenegro on Saturday.
Zvonareva, currently ranked 60th, was scheduled to compete in the PNB Paribas Warsaw Open tournament starting Monday.
The 38-year-old was still on the event’s roster as of Sunday. In a statement, the WTA said it was assessing the situation.
Poland, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, said Zvonareva was on the entry ban list and was not allowed to enter for national and public security reasons.
The communiqué stressed that Poland consistently opposes “the regimes of (Russian and Belarusian) Presidents Vladimir Putin and (Alexander) Lukashenko” and does not allow entry to “people who support the actions of Russia and Belarus”.
