Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina says she “really regrets” competing in Russian WTA tournaments after the Donbas war started in 2014. In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea. That ultimately led to what happened on February 24th, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After making back-to-back appearances at a WTA tournament in Moscow in 2012 and 2013, Svitolina also competed in the Russian capital in 2016 and 2019. Svitolina, who has been very outspoken in her support for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, now regrets playing in Moscow after the Donbas war started. “I really regret going after 2014…So many of my friends who spoke only Russian now speak only Ukrainian,” Svitolina told The New York Times.
Elina Svitolina© Getty Images Sport – Patrick Smith
Svitolina playing for the people of Ukraine
At this year’s Wimbledon, Svitolina edged out Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka 2-6 6-4 7-6 (9) in the Wimbledon round-of-16. During the match, it was very evident that Svitolina was extremely motivated to beat Azarenka. After the match, Svitolina admitted it was one of the biggest wins of her career as she was playing for her country and didn’t want to let the people of Ukraine down.
Elina Svitolina© Getty Images Sport – Patrick Smith
“I got lots of support, and I quickly checked my phone. There was like over 60, 70 messages that I got from people. They were watching, they were cheering, lots of videos from people watching it on the TV. Really proud of the effort that I did. I was there when I was down, 0-2 down, I was really feeling bad because I didn’t show up for the match to just play like that. I was really upset about that. Just told myself that I have to fight. I have to give everything here. Then in the end, just slowly got back into the match. Yeah, this mindset really pushed me through because I have no right to complain, you know, in this situation. I just had to go out there and fight,” Svitolina said.
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