Elina Svitolina has made a U-turn on her decision to pull out of the Monterrey Open and is set to play her match against Anastasia Potapova wearing her national colours ©Getty Images

Ukrainian Elina Svitolina has made a U-turn on her planned withdrawal from a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) event in Monterrey where she was due to play a Russian opponent.

The world number 15 had initially pulled out of a match against Russia’s Anastasia Potapova at the Monterrey Open in Mexico later today.

Svitolina initially withdrew from the match saying she would only play unless the WTA, International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) banned the use of the the flags, anthems, names and colours of Russia and Belarus.

The sport's governing bodies later released a statement saying Russian and Belarusian players could compete in individual tournaments but not under the name or flag of either country.

This prompted a change of heart from Svitolina who said in an interview with ITV News that she would now contest the match, wearing her national colours - the same kit she wore on route to victory in the women's singles bronze medal match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"For sure it’s not going to be [just] another WTA match," said Svitolina.

"I feel like I have my country on my shoulders. 

"Seeing how our people are defending our country gives me a lot of courage because they are standing tall, they are not scared to defend our land. 

"It’s really special and I’m going to do my very best tonight if I step on the court and it’s going to mean a lot to me and to my country.

"I’m going to wear Ukrainian colours and for me this means a lot and that’s going to be a special night for me."

Earlier Svitolina had said in a social media post she would not play a match against Russian or Belarusian opponents until the tennis authorities took what she described as "a necessary decision."

Elina Svitolina said she felt like she would "have her country on her shoulders" after making a U-turn on her decision to boycott the WTA event in Monterrey ©Getty Images
Elina Svitolina said she felt like she would "have her country on her shoulders" after making a U-turn on her decision to boycott the WTA event in Monterrey ©Getty Images

A host of International Federations have already banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in their events as a result of the situation in Ukraine.

The ITF has suspended the National Federations from Belarus and Russia and banned both countries from competing in its international team events, meaning Russia will as it stands be unable to defend its Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup titles.

The ATP and WTA added that a joint tournament due to be held in Moscow in October has been suspended.

Since the start of the Russian invasion, hundreds of civilians have been killed and the United Nations' Refugee Agency calculates more than 520,000 people have fled Ukraine.

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, has been subject to heavy bombing which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says amounts to a war crime.