RT.com
16 Aug 2022, 18:19 GMT+10
The fan was asked to leave the stands during the match between Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova
A female tennis fan with a large Ukrainian flag wrapped around her body was asked to leave the stands during a match between Russia's Anna Kalinskaya and Anastasia Potapova during qualifying for the Cincinnati Masters at the weekend, footage has shown.
The Russian duo were in action on Sunday at the hard court WTA tournament, also known as the Western and Southern Open, with Kalinskaya winning the match 7-5 6-1 against her compatriot to earn passage to the main draw of the prestigious American event.
But proceedings were disrupted at one stage as a woman with a large Ukrainian flag and wearing a Ukrainian-style floral wreath around her head was asked to leave the stands.
Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg said the woman was a local resident named Lola who had been watching the action "silently" and was with a Ukrainian friend.
Umpire Morgane Lara was seen talking to the fan and was quoted as saying it was "not nice" to sit with the flag, to which the woman replied it was "not nice to invade a country."
According to Rothenberg, the intervention had come at the request of one of the players and security staff had behaved "aggressively" towards the fan.
However, tournament organizers later clarified to Reuters that the flag had breached the rules because of its size.
"Per the Western and Southern Open's bag policy, as stated on the tournament's website, flags or banners larger than 18 x 18 [inches] (46 x 46cm) are prohibited," a spokesperson told the news agency.
"Therefore, the patron was asked to remove the flag from the grounds and, after doing so, was allowed to remain at the tournament.
"Any inquiries about the chair umpire should be directed to the WTA Tour," it added.
READ MORE: Medvedev confronts Montreal fan after 'loser' abuse (VIDEO)
Despite widespread bans across other sports, Russian and Belarusian players are allowed to compete on the WTA and ATP tennis tours under neutral status.
After tournament officials at Wimbledon went against the grain and banned them from the grass court showpiece earlier this summer, the ATP and WTA responded by stripping the London Grand Slam of its rankings points in retaliation.
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Tennis Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Tennis Times.
More Information(Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports) The Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels hope to notch some positive season ...
(Photo credit: John Leyba-USA TODAY Sports) Elehuris Montero and Charlie Blackmon homered and had three hits each, Sean Bouchard also ...
(Photo credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports) The Guardians and Tigers have been eliminated from the playoff race, yet when ...
(Photo credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports) The Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers have been eliminated from the playoff race. ...
(Photo credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports) Matt Olson set a modern-era franchise RBI record and the Atlanta Braves beat the ...
(Photo credit: Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK) Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson was limited in practice ...
Kyiv [Ukraine], September 29 (ANI): The Ukrainian troops are"gradually gaining ground," in their counteroffensive against tight Russian defence lines in ...
The Toronto District School Board recently pledged to replace Grade 11 English courses in all
Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman's gym shorts apparently inspired the bipartisan effort to restore sartorial orderThe US Senate unanimously approved a ...
US Senate passes dress code bill as govt shutdown looms
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 29 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Thursday termed the rape of a ...
Geneva [Switzerland], September 29 (ANI): Female human rights activists from Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong jointly highlighted China's forceful repression ...
Every day, we are bombarded with messages about a world in crisis. Alongside the ongoing reminders of wars, economic recessions ...