War in Ukraine: "The silence on the circuit is very disturbing"now Oleksandra Oliynykova after winning the 1st Tour of Roland-Garros

After her first Grand Slam victory, Oleksandra Oliynykova not only expressed her great joy at reaching the second round of Roland-Garros, Tuesday May 26. The Ukrainian took the time to answer a question about having faced and beaten a Russian player in the first round, in this case Elena Pridankina (6-1, 6-2).

“It doesn’t affect me on the court, but we have to understand that this match and the spectacle we get from it is not fair”insisted the 65th player in the world at a press conference, brandishing her phone to show photos of a tennis court destroyed in her country. “In Ukraine, people are dying, our tennis courts are being destroyed, our sports complexes are being destroyed. We need to stop acting like nothing is happening.”

The 25-year-old player, who is discovering Roland-Garros and whose father is currently serving in the Ukrainian army, interprets the silence of Russian tennis players as a strategy serving the regime’s propaganda. “Russian citizens see them as their favorite tennis players. They are famous people with great influence, money won in these tournaments, which they reinvest in supporting propaganda”a expliqué Oleksandra Oliynykova.

“But there are also many who actively participate through their social networks and their participation in the Gazprom tournament, she elaborated, making particular reference to certain likes of Russian players on pro-war content in Ukraine, including Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva – both decorated by Vladimir Putin. Sports organizations need to do something because they [les Russes] use being here as a platform to advertise, make money and exert influence. We need to talk about all this and the silence on the circuit is really very disturbing for me.”. In the 2nd round, Thursday, she will face the Australian Kimberly Birrell in the first rotation on court no. 10.

At the start of the year, Oleksandra Oliynykova had already launched a call for help during the Australian Open, wearing a t-shirt in front of the media on which was written: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children, but I can’t talk about it here.” Via a website, the player, tattooed from head to toe, collects donations to fight against Russian drones.