At last week's Indian Wells, at least three female players shed tears on and off the field.
In the third round of the women's singles on March 13, a female fan shouted to Naomi Osaka during the match: "Get her out!" Naomi, you're so inferior. This public humiliation brought Naomi Osaka to tears several times.
It wasn't just Naomi Osaka who burst into tears on the pitch, belarusian Azarenka also shed tears in public during his third-round match against Lebakina. When the score was 3-6 2-2, Azarenka, who was behind, suddenly broke down and squatted on the ground and cried. After some communication with the referee, Azarenka kept his emotions under control and continued the game, but still lost the second set 4-6.
Before the match began, Azarenka said she was "shocked" by the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The former world number one wrote on personal social media, "I was shocked by the military operations against Ukraine that have taken place over the past few days. It is truly heartbreaking to see so many innocent people continue to be affected by this violence. At a very young age, I saw and experienced friendly exchanges and mutual support between the ukrainian and Belarusian peoples, which has now become a violent separation.
"My heart is with all those who have been directly or indirectly affected by this war, which has brought great suffering to many people. I want peace, I want an end to war. ”
Although Azarenka did not explain why she shed tears during the match, she deleted two of her social media accounts after the match. Combined with her pre-match statement, industry insiders speculated that Azarenka's collapse and tears were related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Since the outbreak of military clashes on the 24th of last month, Belarus has been firmly on the side of Russia and has allowed Russian troops to attack Ukraine from The territory of Belarus. Many international organizations have also included Belarus and Russia in the sanctions list, and seven major tennis organizations, including the International Tennis Federation (ITF), ATP, WTA, and the Four Grand Slams, have disqualified the two countries from participating in the Davis Cup and the Billy Jane Gold Cup, and only allow players from the two countries to participate in tournaments such as the Tour and grand Slam in a neutral capacity, but are not allowed to display national flags and national emblems.
Medvedev, Rublev, Pavlyuchenkova, Karinskaya and others from Russia have publicly expressed their call for peace, and the seven major tennis organizations have also stated that they will not ban Russian and Belarusian players from participating in the tour, but players from both countries still face some psychological pressure.
Compared with Russian and Belarusian players, ukrainian players are more psychologically stressed, mainly from concerns about the safety of their loved ones.
Koscyuk, a 19-year-old Ukrainian player, said: "My whole family is in Ukraine, and if something happens I will lose my whole family, it makes people crazy to think about this. I feel pain when I see Russian players on the pitch and I certainly can't blame them because they are also victims. In contrast to my concerns about the safety of my loved ones, what I hear Russian players talk about the most is that they can't transfer money and stuff out of Russia, which is unacceptable to me. ”
The Ukrainian flag is yellow and blue, and starting from the Indian Wells station, the WTA and ATP have made yellow and blue ribbons that players can wear to play, as a way to appeal to people to donate to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In addition to ukrainian players, there are also many players who spontaneously wear yellow and blue clothes to express their position of support for peace, and when Ukrainian players play against Russian players, the game is given special significance.
Below is Swatak, who is about to reach the top of the world next week, and she wears yellow and blue ribbons pinned to her hat.
Svitolina, Ukraine's highest-ranked women's player, defeated Russian player Potapova in the first round of the WTA250 Monterrey on March 2. After winning, Svitolina said that she would donate the prize money of the competition to the Ukrainian army and humanitarian relief.
After stopping in the quarter-finals in Monterrey, Svitolina and her husband Monfils traveled to California to compete in indian wells. The 35-year-old Monfils defeated world number one Russian player Medvedev 4-6 6-3 6-1 in rounds 1/16, a victory that greatly encouraged the Svitolinas.
The next day, Monfils told reporters that the Russo-Ukrainian war had caused great psychological trauma to his wife, Svitolina, who had recently "cried every night" because she had been worried about her homeland. Svitolina was born in Odessa, Ukraine, where the Russian-Ukrainian fighting rages were held.
Monfils said his wife's family is in Ukraine, and said that Odessa is also his second home, "Our current situation is very difficult, it is difficult to accurately describe the worries and fears in our hearts, I can only try to soothe my wife's emotions, become her shoulder and rely on." To free her from fear and worry, I was willing to do everything I could. ”
On March 6, in the final of the WTA250 Lyon stage, China's Jinhua Zhang Shuai defeated Ukrainian player Dayana Yastremska 3-6 6-3 6-4, who was also born in Odessa. Before coming to Lyon to compete, the 21-year-old Ukrainian player and his 15-year-old sister had just fled their war-torn hometown.
After losing the final and returning to the hotel, Jastremska hugged her sister and cried, saying: "My sister has been crying to go home, and it took me a long time to let her temporarily regain her calm. The sisters decided to donate their sister's singles runner-up bonus on this site and the doubles bonus of the sisters' partner to the motherland.
Compared with the sad tears of female players, the male players chose to be strong. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Ukrainian player Stahovsky announced his joining the Ukrainian reserve. On social media, photos of Stahovsky in military uniform and carrying rifles spread around the world, causing a strong reaction in the tennis world.
Stahovsky's most classic match was in the second round of Wimbledon in 2013, where he defeated defending champion Federer at No. 116. After the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Stahovsky settled his wife and three children under the age of seven in their home in Hungary before returning to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, to prepare for the battle, where he lied to the children that he was going to a tennis tournament.
It wasn't just Stahovsky who put down the racket and carried the steel gun. DogorPolov, a Ukrainian player who retired in 2018, also announced his joining the reserve army, and he issued a long statement on social media on March 17 expressing his determination to defend his family.
He also distributed a picture of body armor, helmet, rifle and clip, with the caption saying, "In the past, I took rackets and rackets, but this is it now." He also said that he has received military training and can now aim at the head of a paper man target 25 meters away, and can do 3 shots in 5 shots.
(Source: Tennis House Author: Yun Cirrus Yunshu)