Ukrainian star Elina Svitolina admits tennis in her home country has been ‘delayed for ten years’ due to the war in Russia after clubs were destroyed by missiles…
- Elina Svitolina has spoken about the role tennis plays in her country Ukraine
- The 28-year-old said the sport helped lift spirits during the war
- She also spoke about the relationship between players from Ukraine and Russia
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina has spoken poignantly about the role tennis plays in lifting the mood in her troubled country.
Svitolina will feel the support at home when she faces Venus Williams on Monday after returning to Kyiv in February to host children’s tennis camps.
“Tennis in Ukraine has been postponed for ten years,” said the 28-year-old. “Many clubs have been destroyed by missiles and I can’t imagine when it will be back to normal.
Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukrainian male tennis player) and I went back to do a children’s clinic and a lot of them enjoyed it.
“It was like a spark of magic for them to play with us because the war was so intense.
Svitolina has spoken about the positive impact tennis has had in her home country of Ukraine
She also spoke about the relationship between Ukrainian players and players from Russia and Belarus
‘With my tennis foundation I have tried to give them a life in which they can keep dreaming and practicing.’
Svitolina was a semifinalist at Wimbledon in 2019, but missed last year because she was pregnant.
She reached the quarterfinals at her comeback Grand Slam in Paris, but was booed by fans after she refused to shake hands with her Belarusian opponent, Aryna Sabalenka.
On the relationship between Ukrainian players and those from Russia and Belarus, she said: “We are more distant from each other. That goes without saying.’