She is only afraid of silence, this talented and determined tennis player with an implacable forehead, proud and proud like few others. Elina Svitolina he challenged Vladimir Putin with the weapons he has cultivated from his childhood to Odessa: the racket and the word. Each of his press conferences is a political message in support of his Ukraine, which faces his toughest days.
A Monterrey first he firmly asserted that he would not compete against the Russian opponent except on her terms and aimed at the highest international tennis authorities, ATP, WTA and IFT to shake those who had hitherto chosen the path of waiting from their torpor and silence.
Elina Svitolina, the victory in Monterrey and the Ukrainian question
At the press conference, the Svitolina – after passing the Russian Anastasia Potapova with a clear 6-2 6-1 and raised an impressive institutional debate – he brought his new kit to the field, with the colors of his Ukraine.
In the project of Elina, Monterrey it is the first piece of an impressive work of communication and political strategy that focuses on its nation, its defense and the struggle to make it free.
Svitolina at the press conference: “The award to the Ukrainian army”
Not mere announcements, not a manifesto, but a concrete economic contribution that the Svitolina – 27 years old – decided to make it public at the press conference.
“This is a very, very special event for me. All the cash prize I will earn here will go to the Ukrainian army. So thank you so much for your support. I’m on a mission for my country, ”she said after beating the Potapova. “I was on a mission for my country,” explained Elina, current number 15 in the ranking. “I think my mission is to unite the tennis community to help Ukraine,” she said after the game. I’m here for this. I go out on the pitch for my country and do my best by using my resources to invite people to help my country. “
The Svitolinawhich has promised to donate the prize money of the upcoming tournaments to help the resistance against the Russian invasion and provide aid to the civilian population, tried by a week of war.
“I play for my nation, to help the Ukrainian army, the people in need of help – he explained -. Each of my victories will be very special ”.
An explicit choice, on a par with what made by other well-known compatriots, such as the former Milanese and Ukrainian football star, Andrij Shevchenkoand other exponents of the world of sport and tennis.
Ukrainian war: the dramatic numbers of the conflict, refugees reaching one million
According to what was disclosed dall’HON, through the refugee agency, there are already one million refugees from the war between Russia and Ukraine. Suffice it to say that up to Wednesday 3 March it was estimated that the people who had abandoned their homes amounted to 836,000.
“In just seven days, one million people fled Ukraine, uprooted by this senseless war. I have worked in refugee emergencies for nearly 40 years, and have rarely seen an exodus as rapid as this, ”reads a statement by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “Hour after hour, minute by minute, more and more people are fleeing the terrifying reality of violence. Countless people have been displaced within the country. And unless the conflict ends instantly, it is likely that millions more will be forced to flee Ukraine, ”the UN representative wrote.
A huge, rampant tragedy that, even with his contribution, has been placed at the center of the international political agenda and of the media.
Elina Svitolina’s turning point: from tennis to the Ukraine-Russia war
For Elina, who had started 2022 not exactly below the best of results, what she is building in Monterrey coincides with a recovery of even her best tennis. To the Australian Open (very controversial, due to the well-known case Djokovic and related expulsion), la Svitolina he had reached the third shift. Nothing comparable to his best seasons, of course, but still a slight sign of recovery.
His tennis career, which really began in 2012, was a crescendo to the peak reached in 2017When Elina following the title victory of Dubaibecomes the first female tennis player in her country to enter the top 10, while on 11 September she reaches the absolute highest point of her career by reaching the third position in the WTA rankings.
One best rankingequaled in other circumstances then after which coincides with the best result for himself and his Ukraine, which thanks to his talent touches other records: on October 28, 2018 he also becomes the first Ukrainian tennis player to win the year-end tournament, the WTA Finals; boasts 17 career titles, two in doubles and as best results in the Grand Slam tests he boasts two semifinals, one at Wimbledon 2019 and one at the US Open 2019. At the last Olympics in Tokyo he won a bronze which enriched the medal table of his nation.
Elina Svitolina’s decision that changes her role
So far nothing, however, that placed Elina in opposition to Russia: not a comment, not a statement that went too far. Indeed, the same Svitolina – who married the French colleague in 2021 Gael Monfilsknowledge of our Matteo Berrettini – despite being resident in the devastated Kharkivno longer lives in fact on Ukrainian soil due to his professional commitments for some time.
Nothing, however, that has affected, in her and in her words, a feeling of belonging that she has made her own and that she does not hesitate to reaffirm in every public circumstance in support of the Ukrainian cause. And that indirectly invests her with an unprecedented role: that of her spokesperson, of her despite her, of what is happening there, on the margins of Europe.
VIRGILIO SPORT
