Maryna Zanevska, the Belgian-Ukrainian tennis player who cried when she heard a siren during a match and reminded her of the war in her country

The Russian warlike invasion of Ukraine, which began on a large scale in February of last year, continues to cause peripheral damage beyond direct damage on the country’s terrain. Sport is also experiencing its consequences, of course, with Russian and Belarusian athletes who are punished by international organizations or watched out of the corner of their eyes, and with Ukrainians suffering for what happens in their places of origin. In tennis, where the chapters of enmities between the players are repeateda new and sad episode was experienced during a women’s competition in Saint-Malo, France.

The tennis player Maryna Zanevska75th in the world ranking, born in Odessa (the Ukrainian port city, a key point in the war), but a Belgian national, broke down emotionally during a match in the second round of the WTA 125 of Saint-Malo that he was dominating. After winning the first set 6-2 against the American Katie Volynets (103rd), she sat on her bench for the regulatory break when, suddenly, a very loud siren began to sound. In an immediate reaction, Zanevska leaned her body forward and covered her ears, affected by the sound. After exchanging a few words with chair umpire Nikola Srecec, she stood up and continued playing: she lost the next two sets (6-4 and 7-5) and, therefore, the match.

40 minutes into the posted video, on the far left of the image, you can see how Zanevska, who is sitting in the farthest seat in the video (visually behind the umpire’s position), is not sure what is happening. and then grabs his head.

Later, on her Instagram account, the tennis player (a title winner and ranked 62nd in the world last year) explained the incident in more detail. “I had strange feelings during my match after winning the first set. I had no idea why but The alarm rang. It may have only been 20 seconds, but it seemed like forever. I started crying a lot and couldn’t stop. I have not been in Ukraine since February 24 [el día que comenzó la invasión del gobierno ruso] and I had never experienced such an alarm, but it really was a sound that triggered me. My heart rate was 200 per hour. Normally I step on a tennis court to avoid my problems, but this time it hit hard, ”confessed the Ukrainian-born tennis player who took Belgian citizenship in 2016.

From 40m, the siren and the suffering of Zanevska

In March of last year, Zanevska married in Las Vegas in a private ceremony that her family members, stuck in Ukraine, could not attend. “We were supposed to get married in Ukraine. It’s scary to write, but because of the war in my home country, it’s definitely not the time to celebrate and party. I have realized in the last two weeks that nothing is more important than peace, family, love (…) I pray that the war ends in Ukraine and we can see my family again and celebrate peace and special moment of our life!”, wrote the player on Instagram.

Some time ago, Zanevska herself had lamented: “It is sad that some players applaud the war.” Beyond that sentence, the majority of tennis players, even Russians and Belarusians, until now have demonstrated against the attitude of the Kremlin. On Sunday an uncomfortable event occurred at the WTA 1000 in Madrid, when the Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko refused to greet the Russian Daria Kasatkina, despite the fact that she is one of the few athletes who from the first moment was encouraged to demonstrate publicly against of his country’s warlike invasion of Ukraine.

THE NATION