WTA, everything okay? Ukrainian tennis player stripped of points for trophy in Italy

WTA fined Oleksandra Oliynykova: father Denys Oliynykov shared the details.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) fined 24-year-old Ukrainian tennis player Oleksandra Oliynykova (WTA 274) and stripped her of the points from her title at the ITF W35 clay tournament in the Italian city of Santa Margherita di Pula, which took place from April 28 to May 4.

The reason was explained by Oleksandra’s father and manager, Denys Oliynykov. Oliynykov serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Oleksandra herself created a platform to raise funds for drones for the Armed Forces, promoting it through social media and a patch on her uniform.

The WTA fined Oleksandra for her late withdrawal from the WTA 125 tournament in Saint-Malo (France), which was held during the same week as the $35,000 event in Italy. After the entry deadline, Oliynykova was placed 15th on the alternate list, and only 14 players could play in the tournament’s qualification.

“I didn’t withdraw her because I’m lazy. Until the very last moment, we were considering the possibility of entering the Saint-Malo tournament as an on-site alternate (a player from the alternate list who is present at the tournament site). 2–3 days before the tournament, players started withdrawing from this tournament en masse. By the way, I still don’t understand why this happened.

What happens in this case: the WTA sends an email to players from the alternate list, offering them the option to withdraw or stay in the draw. As you can imagine, such a situation is very rare, and no one could have predicted that these emails would even appear. What are the chances that 15 players would withdraw from the tournament in front of you within 2–3 days?” – Oliynykov explained.

On the same day that Oleksandra needed to withdraw from the tournament, Denys went on a military mission where it was impossible to use mobile communication for understandable reasons. In the afternoon, the WTA sent four emails to the players from the alternate list: three contained the offer to withdraw or stay in the draw, and the fourth contained the information that Oleksandra had become a qualifier participant because she hadn’t withdrawn.

The first email was sent at 13:36, and the third one at 16:53. At that time, Oleksandra was flying to Italy for the tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula.

“I returned to the reachable area at night, and the next day at 7:41 AM, we wrote an email to the WTA, explaining that due to valid reasons (active work in the Armed Forces of Ukraine), we couldn’t respond earlier, and we asked to withdraw Sasha from the tournament. They replied: ‘No problem. You are allowed three late withdrawals without penalties.'”

Oleksandra added: “As soon as he [her father] saw the email, we immediately contacted the WTA. This happened before the draw and before the matches started, so neither the organizers nor the other players were affected – and we followed the proper procedure for withdrawal.”

However, by Monday, May 5, Oleksandra and Denys received another email from the organization, which informed them about the fine for Oliynykova:

“It turned out that somewhere in the WTA rules, in very small print, it is stated that if a player enters the qualification of a WTA 125 tournament and withdraws, they are not allowed to play an ITF tournament the same week! The penalty: a fine and the removal of all points for the tournament.”

Oleksandra Oliynykova appealed to the association with a request for a “one-time amnesty”:

“I want to emphasize that this is not an appeal, as I understand that, from a formal perspective, the WTA is acting in accordance with the established rules. However, I am requesting a one-time exception and for my earned points to be preserved given the extraordinary and very unusual circumstances.

Last week, I played one of the best tournaments of my career, winning the title in a fierce and fair battle, earning valuable WTA points. This victory brings me closer to my first qualification for a Grand Slam tournament. Since I did not have an outstanding junior career, I do not have a sponsor or a sports agency managing my career, and in almost eight years on the professional tour, I have NEVER received a Wild Card for any tournament, this path has been long and difficult.

The only mistake our team made in this situation was that my father was unable to respond to the exceptional and unusual WTA email as quickly as other players’ teams did – within a few hours. We fully acknowledge our responsibility and will do everything possible to ensure that such a situation does not happen again in the future.

However, to be deprived of the chance to play in a Grand Slam for the first time just because my father was at war and couldn’t respond to your email quickly – that feels like an overly harsh punishment. That is why I respectfully request a one-time amnesty. I am willing to pay the fine, but I sincerely ask that the WTA points I earned through honest and fair competition be preserved.”

However, the WTA does not want to make any concessions and has no intention of lifting the sanctions against Oleksandra:

Denys Oliynykov: “We admitted our fault. The violation was minor, unintentional, accidental, and committed for the first time. It didn’t harm anyone – absolutely no one. We asked for a financial penalty to be applied but for the points to remain, because how did this withdrawal affect the game? That email had no impact on the sporting results, on the tournament, on the organization, or on the opponents. It’s just bureaucracy. But they went to the maximum extent.

The fact that I was performing military duties during a war and physically could not get in touch was not taken into account. Oleksandra earned her victory at the tournament through fair competition. But for that, she will receive 0 points and a financial fine. Honestly, I feel the WTA’s decision is biased – perhaps against Oleksandra personally, perhaps against all Ukrainian players. And without a doubt – the WTA shows a very high level of solidarity. Toward Russians and Belarusians. And zero – toward Ukrainians.”

A situation like this happened to Oleksandra for the first time, but the WTA’s attention toward her dates back to December 2024. At that time, the Ukrainian was playing at the WTA 125 tournament in Florianópolis (Brazil), and in the first round, she defeated Russian player Alevtina Ibragimova.

As mentioned earlier, Oleynikova plays with a patch of her charity foundation Drones4UA.org, and during that match, the patch was also displayed on her shirt. After the match against the neutral player, the tournament organizers and WTA officials, represented by the supervisor, asked Oleksandra to change her outfit, referring to WTA rules (allegedly due to a political message).

It’s also worth recalling the case of Lesia Tsurenko against the WTA. Considering all these situations, Denys Oleynikov’s final remark about solidarity feels very accurate.

Daniil Agarkov