Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova, the two players competing for the year-end No. 1 ranking this week at the WTA Finals, each took a moment on the eve of the competition to speak out against Shamil Tarpischev, the recently suspended president of the Russian Tennis Federation.
While appearing on a Russian talk show last week, Tarpischev, the captain of the Russian Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams and a member of the International Olympic Committee, referred to Williams and her sister Venus as “the Williams brothers.” On Friday, Stacey Allaster, the chairman and chief executive of the WTA, suspended Tarpischev from WTA activity for one year and fined him the maximum allowed amount, $25,000.
Serena Williams, the two-time defending champion of the year-end event, praised the swift and decisive action.
“I thought they were very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist at the same time,” Williams said of Tarpischev’s remarks. “I thought they were in a way bullying. I’ve done the best that I can do, and that’s all I can say. So I just wasn’t very happy with his comments. I think a lot of people weren’t happy as well.”
Williams expressed particular disappointment that someone of Tarpischev’s stature would make such a comment.
“The WTA and the U.S.T.A. did a wonderful job of making sure that — in this day and age, 2014 — for someone with his power, it’s really unacceptable to make such bullying remarks,” she said.
Sharapova, who has been the face of Russian tennis for more than a decade and is the only Russian woman currently ranked in the top 10, also addressed Tarpischev’s remarks.
“I think they were very disrespectful and uncalled-for, and I’m glad that many people have stood up, including the WTA,” she said. “It was very inappropriate, especially in his position and all the responsibilities that he has not just in this sport, but being part of the Olympic committee. It was just really irresponsible on his side.”
Despite her prominence in Russian sports — she was a flag-bearer at the 2012 Olympics in London and was given the honor of carrying the torch into the Olympic stadium at the Sochi Games in February — Sharapova has been more disconnected from her country’s federation than perhaps any other top tennis player. A longtime United States resident, Sharapova has played only four Fed Cup matches for Tarpischev in her career.
In a statement published Saturday by the Russian Tennis Federation, Tarpischev praised the Williams sisters by saying that they showed the “highest class of tennis,” but he did not directly apologize for last week’s comment.
“I regret that that joke, which when translated into English has been taken out of humorous context, was the focus of so much attention,” he said. “I do not think that this story deserves such hype. After all, everything said on the air was said without malice.”
The WTA Finals begin Monday in Singapore, with Williams facing seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic. On Tuesday, Sharapova will face eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki.
