Ukraine tennis star: I can only wake up in the morning and hope my family survived

Ukrainian tennis players are speaking out about what is happening in their homeland, while Russian and Belarusian athletes are increasingly allowed to return to international competition without restrictions. Players describe the fear they live with every day for their loved ones.

Ukrainian tennis stars continue to remind the world sports arena of their country's military situation, as the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competition generates growing controversy. Ukrainian players describe waking up each morning uncertain whether their family members have survived another night.

One by one, Ukrainian tennis players have shared personal stories about what it means to compete at world-class sporting events while war rages at home. Each morning begins with hope that loved ones have made it through another night of bombardment.

Conflict on the sports arena

Meanwhile, international sports governing bodies are deliberating how to treat Russian and Belarusian athletes. Several tennis authorities have taken steps to allow them to return to competition under neutral status, a decision that has provoked strong resistance from Ukrainian players.

Ukrainian athletes have repeatedly expressed concern that the rehabilitation of Russian and Belarusian players in international sport sends the wrong message — as though sport could be separated from politics at a time when war continues and Ukrainians are dying.

The personal cost of war

According to tennis stars, sport is far more than just sport for them — every match and every tournament takes place against a backdrop where family members are in danger. Many Ukrainian players have relocated their loved ones or live in constant anxiety, unable to help those who remained in their homeland. This emotional burden is part of the daily reality that Russian athletes, in Ukraine's view, do not understand and do not wish to understand.