For many years, Sergei Stakhovsky used to carry his racket on the sports track before replacing it with weapons in defense of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, against the Russian invasion.
The Ukrainian tennis player left his family two weeks ago to join the regional fighting brigade against Russian forces after he was left “with no other choice,” as he described it.
“For being here, I know it’s a mistake, I should be with my family,” Stakhovsky said. “But if I’m at home with my family, it would be a mistake not to be here.”
He added: “I wish I wasn’t busy with such things. I can’t say I feel comfortable with a gun. I’m not sure how I would react to shooting someone… I don’t think any of the Ukrainians would do that willingly, but we don’t have no choice.”
Stakhovsky reached the peak of his career in 2013 when he eliminated the legend of the game and the defending champion and world number three at the time, the Swiss Roger Federer from Wimbledon.
Stakhovsky received many messages of support from tennis players around the world, led by Federer, which had a great impact on his morale.
“He (Federer) told me that he hoped for peace soon and that he, (his wife) Mikra and their foundation were looking for ways to help the children of Ukraine,” Stakhovsky said of the letter.
Stakhovsky joins a number of Ukrainian athletes who decided to take up arms in defense of their country, such as Yuri Fernydub, coach of the Sheriff Tiraspol football club in Moldova, who returned to Ukraine to participate in the erupting war.
The former world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko and the current mayor of Kyiv also replaced his jacket with a camouflaged military uniform to organize the defense of the capital.