“I feel completely useless, the tennis community should do better” Elina Svitolina unhappy with poor support to Ukraine from her colleagues
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Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina continues to rally support for Ukraine as her country continues to engulf in battle with Russia to protect its boundaries. Elina was in Doha for the 2022 Qatar Open where she lost in a tight 3-set encounter in the first round. With the war starting, Elina continues to hope for the safety of her compatriots away from her country.
During a recent interview with Eurosport, Svitolina emphasised that the tennis community has not actually involved itself much in the Ukraine-Russia conflict and the player expects some better position from the tennis authorities who have so far not taken any firm stand with respect to the war.
“It’s really tough to explain in words what is happening with Ukraine. We did not expect this war to start, it started in the night and everyone is terrified. I have my parents and the whole family there. I try to talk to them constantly, it is very important to stay in contact with them. The most painful thing I would say is that I feel completely useless. I want to help them but it is not possible for someone who is outside, but it is even tougher for people who are over there. I don’t even feel a few percent of what they are feeling.
“Some of my friends are without food, water, electricity. They are really struggling, hearing the shooting and noise of war and buildings collapsing. I cannot even imagine how the kids are feeling. I don’t even think about when can I go back to Ukraine. It’s our goal from the outside to bring the attention of the media and people and try to stop this. We are slowly moving forward with help from different countries but we can still do more, with the power of social media we can do so much more.
“I think the tennis community should do better. In the past, when the tennis community has come together, we resolved and we helped the world know to know the stories. So I think the tennis community can help others understand what’s happening and help Ukrainian families who are struggling right now. It’s very tough mentally, I chatted with many Ukrainian girls, they can’t practice, they can’t focus, they can’t sleep. We are checking our phones to see what’s happening to our families, that’s is mentally very very tough,” said Elina.
Elina Svitolina pledges to donate her future prize money to Ukrainian Army
The former World No. 3 pledged to donate all her prize money in her upcoming tournaments towards the humanitarian causes in Ukraine for all those affected by the war including the brave soldiers who are manning the boundaries as she continues to get more and more people aware of the situation in the country. Svitolina wrote an emotional letter to her country announcing her motives.
“People in Ukraine right now are going 10 or 20 times worse situation right now so I decided that the prize money from my upcoming tournaments here in Mexico and States, will go the Ukrainian Army and the humanitarian needs so this way I can help my country and I want to do something to help my country,” concluded the Ukrainian tennis star as the Ukrainian Tennis Federation has now requested a ban on Russian and Belarusian tennis federations and players.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)