Djokovic’s support and his tennis friend’s reply
Djokovic immediately expressed his support for Stakhovsky who posted the text of the conversation via WhatsApp with the Serbian player on his Instagram profile. “Nole, thank you very much, yes I’m on the field, Kiev is pretty silent”, the reply of the Ukrainian who on Sunday had told his choice to enlist in an interview, as did other Ukrainian sportsmen such as the two-time Olympic champion of boxing Vasiliy Lomachenko and former world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. “I am not a soldier, I have never held a gun, I have never shot anyone. But if I have to, I will. Fear? Of course there is fear, only idiots do not feel fear in this situation”, he pointed out.
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Stakhovsky’s enlistment
Stakhovsky was number 31 in the world as best ranking in 2010 and his story went around the world a few days ago. He retired at the beginning of 2022, at 36, after a defeat in the Aus Open qualifiers; he was on vacation in Dubai with his wife and children when the conflict broke out. He arranged for the family to arrive in Hungary, before walking back home across the Slovakian border to enlist.
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The solidarity of other sportsmen Tennis player Dayana Yastremska, who escaped from Odessa just a week ago with her younger sister and is now a finalist in the WTA tournament against the Chinese Zhang Shuai, will donate to the Ukrainian Foundation the cash prize of runner-up in the Lyon tournament (14,500 euros). “The cash prize I have earned here, I will give to the Ukrainian Foundation to support Ukraine,” she tearfully said during the award ceremony. Aldo Montano (married to the Russian Olga Plachina) also gathered a group of sports champions and show business personalities in an appeal and started a collection on the gofundme site.
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