It’s a tradition for Adrian Mannarino. The current world number 22, who is coming off the best season of his career at age 35, refuses to know the identity of his next opponent in a tournament. The French number 2 must, however, know where he is going if he participates as planned in the “Northern Palmyra Trophies”: in Russia, more precisely in Saint Petersburg, where the second edition of this exhibition event takes place from Friday to Sunday. mixed team competition, born last year on the rubble of the ATP 250 and WTA 500 tournaments, stopped since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The very discreet Mannarino, winner of five tournaments in 2023, is on the bill for the event, organized after the end of the “official” season. In his entourage, only his coach Erwann Tortuyaux responded to 20 minutes, to indicate that he did not wish to communicate about his player “for the moment, for professional reasons”, even before we could talk to him about his participation in this tournament in Russia. The player’s choice raises questions, and should not fail to provoke comments.
With the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (35 years old, 57th in the world but former No. 9 in the ATP) and the Italian Jasmine Paolini (27 years old, 30th in the world), Mannarino must form a contingent of three Western Europeans at middle of five Russians (including Karen Khachanov, 15th in the world, the highest ranked of the lot), two Serbs (Laslo Djere and Dusan Lajovic, 33rd and 46th), a Bulgarian and a Kazakh.
ATP and WTA see no problem
From there to accusing the players present of serving Vladimir Putin’s “sportwashing” policy, there is a step that several media outlets, particularly Ukrainian ones, quickly took. Contacted by 20 minutes, the French Federation sent out a concise but clear message. “The FFT strongly recommends that players do not attend this type of event in Russia. » However, this recommendation is not a condemnation, and does not provide information on potential consequences for a future call-up to the Davis Cup, for example.
Via the Reuters agency, the WTA and the ATP issued similar press releases, to indicate that this “Northern Palmyra Trophies” was not part of the circuit and that players were free to hit the ball wherever they wanted as as “independent contractors”.
When contacted by email, the tournament organization did not answer our questions, in particular those on the why and how of the “casting”. The event, which is expected to be very lucrative, is sponsored by the Russian hydrocarbon giant Gazprom, hit by Western sanctions due to the Ukrainian conflict, and which finances private militias, particularly in Ukraine. “This company has been the economic arm of Vladimir Putin since around 2003,” describes Lukas Aubin, research director at Iris (Institute of International and Strategic Relations). It has enormous financial power, it is the company which finances Zenit Saint Petersburg, Putin’s favorite football club. »
The Zenith is chaired by Alexander Medvedev, vice-president of Gazprom and – the world is decidedly small even if Russia is huge – general director of the “Northern Palmyra Trophies”. The latter also spoke at a press conference on Wednesday, as indicated by the Russian site gotennis.ru. Medvedev explained in particular that he had spoken with his namesake Daniil (3rd in the world), who would not have been able to free himself “given his busy schedule”, and affirmed that Andrey Rublev (5th) was on “the short list” of the tournament . However, neither of the two Russian big names is present, nor is the convalescent Rafael Nadal, who was also contacted, according to Alexander Medvedev.
“Russia has its allies”
So go for a less prestigious field, but already more “westernized” than last year where only the anonymous Spaniard Pedro Martinez (40th at the peak of his form, 117th today) was not part of a country of the former Eastern Bloc. “Russia has its allies, particularly in the world of sport from which it is partially excluded,” explains Lukas Aubin, author of Sportokratura: the geopolitics of sport under Vladimir Putin (Bréal editions). Tennis is a way to exist. »
“So far, Russian players can participate in major international competitions, apart from a few episodic cases [comme Wimbledon 2022], continues the specialist. But the country cannot organize events on its territory and is therefore looking for subterfuges to be able to do so. This is in line with a more global strategy. Russia is seeking to emancipate itself from the IOC and the major international sports organizations, to create its own sporting microcosm. »
At the time of interviewing Lukas Aubin, we were not yet aware of the comments of Boris Piotrowski, vice-governor of Saint Petersburg. During the press conference presenting the tournament, the manager, relayed this time by the specialized site Ukrainian Tennis-BTU, spoke of “an event on a global scale”, which “responds to international sanctions and the cancellation of tennis tournaments in Russia. “For a long time, we have fulfilled the mission set by our president [Poutine] : build a multipolar world,” continues Piotrowski.
2024, year of alternative sport in Russia
And this is only the beginning, according to the Iris researcher: “In Russia, each year there is a theme, and 2024 will officially be the year of sport. Competitions parallel to those considered pro-Western will be organized. This exhibition tennis tournament is in line with this, even if it is much less important than the Friendship Games, which will apparently bring together dozens of countries. » This competition scheduled for September 15 to 29, 2024 must respond to the Paris Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11). The IOC has still not ruled on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympics.
According to RAI, which cites Jasmine Paolini’s entourage, the Italian could ultimately not participate in the “Northern Palmyra Trophies”. On the tournament site, however, she still appears this Wednesday at midday in the Lions team, under the double captaincy of the Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova (victorious at the 2004 US Open and 2009 Roland-Garros) and the Serbian Janko Tipsarevic. Two other Russian retirees, Nikolay Davydenko (world No. 3 in 2006) and Anastasia Myskina (winner of Roland-Garros 2004) lead the Sphinx, where Adrian Mannarino will play.