Stakhovsky slammed Nadal for his plea for Russians not to be included in Wimbledon: “Is it fair that Ukrainians are dying?”

It is realized that the lives of elite athletes change drastically when they retire from professional activity and the case of Sergiy StakhovskySi, who quit tennis after falling in the first round of qualifying at the last Australian Open, is the best example of this.

The 36-year-old former Ukraine tennis player, remembered for removing Roger Federer from Wimbledon in 2013, replaced the racket and the yellow balls for guns and bulletproof vests. In an interview with SkyNews made at the end of February confirmed that he would join his country’s army to cooperate in defense against Russian attacks.

“I am sure that if Ukraine is defeated in this war it will be erased from the maps and history books, so no country will go back. I will have the nationality of a country that does not yet exist and I am not ready for that,” he said. niya. at that time.

In this context, very goal -oriented, the former world number 31 and winner of 4 ATP titles exit to cross over to Twitter to Rafael Nadal after the Spaniard opposed the proposal imposed by Wimbledon to ban the participation of Russian and Belarusian tennis players.

“It seems very unfair to the players, to my teammates. I don’t know what they are to blame for what is happening right now with the war.. I feel so sorry for them. Hopefully not, ”Nadal told a press conference before his debut at the Masters 1000 in Madrid. The answer soon came.

“Rafael Nadal, we competed together … we face the tour. Tell me, how fair is it that Ukrainian players can’t go home? How fair is it that young Ukrainians can’t play tennis? How fair is it that Ukrainians is dying? ” Stakhovsky responded to his Twitter account, citing a note that reproduced Nadal’s statements.

The Russia-Ukraine war turned to tennis

And this is not the first time this has happened. In early March, months after enlisting in the armed forces, Stakhovsky announced the lack of support from leading tennis figures for Ukraine: “I’m sorry Federer and Nadal are silent about Ukraine. Djokovic called me”.

Anyway, the Serbian number 1 in the world agreed with Nadal and gave a similar argument.

“Tennis players and athletes in general have nothing to do with what’s going on. It’s never good when politics comes into sports. I know how much emotional trauma the war left, in the Balkans we experienced it, but I can’t support the Wimbledon tournament decision. It’s insane, ”he said a few days ago at a press conference from the ATP 500 in Belgrade.

Along with Stakhovsky, his compatriot Marta Kostyuk, 52nd in the WTA rankings, joined the claims and directly attacked tennis players affected by the decision of All England authorities. Through his Twitter account he published an explosive statement.

“In times of crisis, silence means consent. Some Russian and Belarusian players vaguely mentioned the war, but did not explicitly say that Russia and Belarus started it on Ukrainian territory, ”the Ukrainian post.

He then added: “We ask that the WTA, ATP and ITF ensure that the players representing Russia and Belarus answer the following questions:

• Do you support the aggression of Russia and Belarus on Ukrainian territory and, with it, the war started by these countries?
• Do you support the military activity of Russia and Belarus in Ukraine?
• Do you support the regime of Putin and Lukashenko?

If necessary, we request that Russian and Belarusian athletes be excluded from competing worldwideas Wimbledon has already done.

A war waged by political interestswhich causes dizziness and brings horror of past times in the XXI century, it brings in tennis and divides the players. Nadal is preparing for his debut in Madrid, which is on Wednesday against Bublik or Kecmanovic, and is also preparing for a press conference with a question about Stakhovsky’s statements as a fixed one.