hobby corner

the biggest and most persistent source of criticism has been political. in 2023, during the ongoing russian invasion of ukraine, she walked onto court at indian wells wearing a spartak moscow football jersey. the incident caused immediate backlash, the wta formally warned her over it, and several players — including iga swiatek — publicly criticized the decision. potapova’s own response came across as largely dismissive of the criticism surrounding it.

she also later participated in the northern palmyra trophies exhibition event in st. petersburg, a tournament financially linked to gazprom, the russian state energy company closely associated with the kremlin and, by extension, the russian war effort. because of that context, participation in the event was always going to be viewed as politically charged regardless of how the players themselves chose to frame it.

then in late 2025 she switched sporting citizenship to austria. that move itself was not controversial as several russian players have changed nationality since the invasion. the issue was more the timing and optics around it. the announcement came only days after the gazprom-backed exhibition and shortly after she had publicly supported the return of russian teams to international competitions. on top of that, the wording of her public statement drew attention because it was for word what daria kasatkina had used when announcing her own nationality change to australia. kasatkina herself pointed it out, which only amplified the discussion online. potapova herself dismissed the controversy around it and argued the media had exaggerated the situation.

outside politics, there have also been several smaller controversies that contributed to the broader perception. one was a tiktok post that was fatphobic and tone-deaf, where she used a meme about fearing becoming “fat and poor” while showing off a luxury lifestyle setting. there have also been recurring rude treatment toward ball kids and other tournaments staff during matches.

there was also an incident at the 2024 australian open where she smashed her racket and left it abandoned on court, forcing her opponent to remove it herself before play continued, which generated another wave of criticism around sportsmanship and maturity.

most recently, she dismissed the roland garros media boycott organized around player concerns, publicly calling the action pointless. because the boycott was largely intended to support players outside the absolute top tier financially and structurally, her comments came across as especially dismissive considering she herself started the year ranked no. 56 and still had to go through qualifying just to enter some masters 1000 events. for many people, it felt strange to see a player still directly affected by those same structural issues publicly minimizing them.