Pavlyuchenkova says denied entry to Czech Republic, to miss Prague Open

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova mentioned she was refused entry to the Czech Republic and won’t be taking part in in qualifying for the WTA Prague Open.

“I will not be able to participate in Prague next week,” the 32-year-old mentioned on Instagram.

“I continue my preparation on hard courts for US Series now. See you in Cincinatti and US Open,” she mentioned in English.

The former world No. 11 made her assertion after the Czech Republic Interior Ministry mentioned on Friday that an unnamed Russian tennis participant, arriving to play in qualifying for the WTA Prague Open, was refused entry.

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The publish mentioned that police in Prague “checking a Russian citizen at the airport found reasons to end her temporary stay. She has already left the Czech Republic”.

Czech officers added that no different Russian and Belarusian gamers would journey to the nation “according to the information available”.

In June, in response to Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, the Czech authorities banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing on Czech territory.

The Czech National Sports Agency mentioned that the federal government choice meant it was attainable “to invalidate an individual visa in cases where the Russian or Belarussian sportsperson arrived in the Czech Republic from within the Schengen area without border controls”.

The WTA mentioned that the actions of the Czech authorities contravened their coverage.

“Individual WTA players whose nationality is Russian/Belarusian continue to compete on the Tour on a neutral basis,” mentioned the WTA.

“Despite their neutrality, some WTA players are being denied by Czech government authorities the ability to compete at the WTA 250 event scheduled to be held in Prague next week. WTA rules state that all players must be allowed to compete on the WTA based solely on merit, without discrimination.”

Russian and Belarusian tennis gamers compete below a impartial flag on the primary males’s and girls’s excursions.