Russia’s highest-ranking women’s singles tennis player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, has called for an end to her country’s war amid continued invasion of Ukraine.
The 30-year-old, who won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, wrote a long post clarifying her stand on the ongoing dispute between the two countries.
“I’ve been playing tennis since childhood, I’ve represented Russia all my life, it’s my home and my country – but now I’m in utter fear, as are my friends and family,” the world number 14 The player wrote in a post on his Twitter page.
The winner of 12 singles titles on the WTA Tour and five singles titles on the ITF Circuit has explicitly stated that personal ambitions or political motives cannot justify violence.
“But I am not afraid to state my position clearly, I am against war and violence, personal ambitions or political motives cannot justify violence, it not only takes away the future from us but also from our children – I am confused And don’t know how to help in this situation,” she said.
“I’m just an athlete who plays tennis, I’m not a politician, not a public figure, I have no experience with it, I can only disagree with decisions taken in public and talk openly about it – Stop the violence, stop the war.”
The sports world has strongly condemned military action in Ukraine and governing bodies are addressing their position, even as individual players are making their stand against the war, including Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and now Pavlyuchenkova included.
The 30-year-old won gold at the Tokyo Olympics last year, as did Rublev together in mixed doubles, but they could not do it under their official flag as Russia was banned from the tournament, instead, He represented the Russian Olympic Committee.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh news And Assembly Election Live Updates Here.