Last March, in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, the IOC recommended to International Federations that they did not allow Russian or Belarusian athletes to take part in their competitions, prompting many to issue bans.

But this year the IOC stance has shifted to the point where they changed their guidance allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in international competitions as neutrals, although no decision has yet been made regarding participation at Paris 2024.

"Right now the situation is pretty complicated because at the beginning of the war there weren’t many decisions one way," Świątek said, as reported by tennisuptodate.

"At first they (Russian and Belarusian athletes) were kind of banned in other sports, not in tennis," Świątek said.

"Then it changed a little bit and they are starting to be allowed, which is pretty confusing because I feel nothing changed in Ukraine and the cities are still under attack.

"Many Ukrainian athletes are fighting in the war and losing their lives.

"It’s heartbreaking.

"I just hope no matter what the decisions is going to be, the sport will be able to kind of put people together and not separate them.

"But there are tensions, so it may be tricky and hard to do.

"But you know, me as just one athlete, I don’t have full influence on what’s going on, so we kind of have to just compete (at) our best no matter what the circumstances are."