Right at the beginning of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Sergei Stakhovsky took a clear position. He volunteers for his country's reserve forces. He also makes it very clear verbally what he thinks. Many Russian players are now getting their fat off.
Former Ukrainian tennis pro Sergey Stakhovsky is "disappointed" by the silence of many Russian players on the war of aggression in his home country. "They are all afraid for their fate. They don't want to go to prison, but they agree that children and women die," said the 36-year-old at a benefit event for war victims in Kraków, Poland.
The event, which, according to TV Polska, raised more than 420,000 euros, was organized by world number one Iga Swiatek. The Polish woman's call was followed by Ukrainian sports stars such as the pregnant tennis player Yelina Switolina and football hero Andriy Shevchenko. The former Polish number one Agnieszka Radwanska picked up the bat again.
Swiatek said she felt the war was already gone from people's minds, "many players have taken off their (Ukrainian) armbands that they wore for a few matches in February". She finds that "a bit contradictory," said the 21-year-old French Open winner, "but above all I'm concentrating on what I can do to help."
Stakhovsky, who retired earlier this year and joined Ukraine's reserve forces after the Russian invasion, explicitly excluded Andrei Rublev and Darya Kasatkina from his criticism. World number one Rublev was "perhaps one of the few players who publicly spoke out against the war," he said.
The top Russian player Kassatkina described the war as a "nightmare" in a YouTube video, criticized homophobia in Russia and came out as gay. "I admire Darja very much," said Stachowski, "she is a heroine in her own way." If there were more Russians like Rublev and Kassatkina, "this war would never have started."
Stachowski said he "met some Russian players in Paris during Roland Garros". He didn't name names, but "basically everyone just turned around, walked away or turned their heads away when they saw me," he said: "And I've known them all for a long time, I've followed their careers, to say the least , I'm very disappointed."
The Russian players start the tennis tour as neutral athletes. In Wimbledon they were excluded from the organizing All England Club, which some top stars like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev criticized.
