There have been many important events on the courts in recent hours. The first took place in Antalya, Turkey, where the general secretary of the Ukrainian Tennis Association, Yevgeny Zhukin – as described by one of the websites – slapped the Austrian executive director of Tennis Europe. The activist received a blow in the face for being a representative of an organization that took a very mild stance on the war in Ukraine. So gentle that Zhukin just did not get away with it. There was no condemnation of the aggressor in it.
– I read the statement, finished lunch, and got up. I was sitting five tables from him. I asked him how you could do that. He told me to leave. I slapped him lightly and left – Żukin told about the incident. On the scene, such information came to light, the Turkish police were called.
Like in 1941
What was the Ukrainian doing in Turkey at that time? He organized the Ukraine – Barbados match as part of the Davis Cup, which was to be held at our eastern neighbors, but due to the war it had to be moved to neutral territory. The 38-year-old manager took his wife and two children with him. But his parents and his 92-year-old grandmother stayed in Ukraine.
– They are sitting in shelters, they are constantly bombed, and I cannot help them – said Zhukin after the incident. – My grandmother says that she knew the same and experienced it in 1941. If someone wants to punish me for my behavior, go ahead. I do not care about it at all, he said. The head of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, Serhiy Lazar, demanded that Russia and Belarus be removed from the tennis structures.
But that was just the beginning of the tensions. Soon news of a completely different, heavier caliber arrived. The best Ukrainian tennis player Jelina Svitolina started to protest. He will donate his earnings from the WTA tournaments in Monterrey and Indian Wells and Miami to the Ukrainian army and humanitarian aid. In this way, he wants to support the motherland, which has been armed by Russia.
They are broken hearts
– Until the last moment, we did not believe that this war would really start, and then this night came … They are all scared and broken-hearted. My family is there as well as many of my friends who have not left the country. It takes a lot of courage. It is unbelievable that some people took up their arms and went to fight for our country. The most painful thing is that I feel completely useless, and I’d like to help them. I want to do something for them, I want to help my country. Some of my friends do not have electricity, water and food – said Switolina, former Wimbledon and US Open semi-finalist.
A little later it turned out that in the first round the tennis player from Odessa, seeded from No. 1, was to play with the Russian Anastasia Potapova. And she announced that she would not play with her, or with any other tennis player from Russia and Belarus, until the authorities of the WTA, ATP and ITF follow the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee to admit Russian athletes to the competition only without the flag, colors and symbols national and anthem. Which at the beginning of the event in Mexico meant a huge confusion …
See what under what conditions Jelina Switolina agreed to compete in the tournaments
Ukraine’s second rocket, Anhelina Kalinina, and their supporters, Marta Kostiuk and Lesia Curenko, spoke even more strongly. – We would like to express our great surprise with the lack of reaction to the events in our homeland. We demand that the WTA condemn the Russian government, cancel the WTA tournaments played in that country, and cause the same to happen with the ITF events, she said. Will this happen? For now, the women’s federation is silent. She did not mention Russia’s aggression against Ukraine with a single word. Regarding Shuai Peng and China, she reacted much faster.
Stop the violence, stop the war
There is chaos on the courts, and due to the fact that tennis players from Ukraine and Russia are a very large group in the world leaders, we can have it on many levels in a moment. Ukrainian women will protest and withdraw from the tournaments if the WTA will allow their rivals to play with the inscription Russia and the resulting consequences on their names. It is enough for their paths to cross in the bracket, and this happens in virtually every tournament. Therefore, both federations – including ATP – should create a format that would be acceptable to the dramatically experienced players from Ukraine. The Russians and Russians know what their rivals feel, and both Svitolina and her friends write about respect and tribute to Russian tennis players who protest against the actions of Vladimir Putin.
A dramatic appeal to the Russian authorities was made by, for example, the finalist of the French Open Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In it he writes that no personal ambitions or political motives can justify the violence. And he asks: stop the violence, stop the war. So stop the violence, stop the war.
Both she and other Moscow players will now have difficulties traveling. They will be affected by sanctions because the European Union has closed airspace for Russian planes. To fly to the United States, they will now have to fly via Istanbul, Belgrade, Cairo or Dubai. More expensive, with more changes, taking a lot of time. The time professional tennis players need the most right now. Well, that’s exactly what Vladimir Putin costs. These are the costs of his crazy politics …
Nothing is lost in the network
And since nothing is lost on the Internet, it is also worth remembering her words from a few years ago. In an interview before one of the players party, when asked who she would like to invite to the party, if she could invite one person, she answered in a way that seems absurd from today’s perspective.
– If you can bring any plus one to a party who would you bring and why? Anyone in the entire world?
– Wladimir Putin…
– Oooooo…. That’s the very interesting plus one…
– Yes, I am very patriotic you know…
No, no, it’s not the Radwański sisters … The protagonist of this recording is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. From 5:52 pm she tells who she would invite to the party. That person is – incredibly – Vladimir Putin. Look and listen.
Iga against the drama
Of course, once the leader of Russia, although he was not super-perceived, did not evoke such bad associations as now. He is now considered to be the person who has caused a great deal of suffering, harm and aggression in Europe. Iga Świątek has already expressed that she is against such activity. He is not against Russians, although he does not have his best friends among them. He tries to be fair towards the whole community, but takes the right, responsible position in this conflict.
– I would like to express my solidarity with our friends from Ukraine – she wrote. You can read her entire statement below, but it is really well structured. And if everyone thought like her, in order to unite and not divide, we would have a completely different world today.
Also the tennis world, which will suffer a lot in the coming days and weeks. And yet there are a lot of interesting tournaments ahead of us …
See Iga Świątek’s entry on her Instagram
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