WIMBLEDON, England — Lesia Surenko’s Wimbledon campaign ended on Friday during a game that left her head elsewhere.
Ms Surenko, a 33-year-old tennis veteran from Kyiv, had been watching the news from her home all week and watched as Russians bombed a mall and other civilian targets.
“They are trying to kill as many people as possible,” Ms Surenko said of the Russian military.
She had been better at banishing thoughts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from her mind since February when she was on the tennis court, but Friday was a bad day. She said that since waking up she’s felt unbalanced, “like there’s no ground beneath my feet.” And when she went to court against German Joule Niemeyer, she said she “didn’t know how to play tennis”.
The constant journey of professional tennis and the physical and mental suffering that comes with it is tough on even the best players. For players from Ukraine who have been away from home for months and who spend most of their free time checking in on the health and safety of friends and family, the challenge is enormous.
The good news for Ms Surenko is that she has found a semi-permanent home in northern Italy at an academy run by renowned coach Ricardo Piatti. He has an apartment. His sister Oksana recently joined him. Her husband, Nikita Vlasov, a former military officer, is ready to return as soon as she gets the call, but right now the armed forces don’t need anyone at their level.
“We have no problem with the people,” Ms. Surenko said shortly after her defeat. “The problem is the heavy weapon.”
Ms. Surenko left Ukraine before the war started, so technically she’s not a refugee. Recently he had to miss a tournament so he could stay in Italy and get the papers to stay there. She’s waiting for approval. At the same time, her mother, who lives near Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, does not want to leave despite the heavy bombardment. The mother of her sister’s husband also lives there.
His time playing tennis in England last month has brought relief. Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from attending Wimbledon. Knowing how popular President Vladimir V. Putin is in Russia, Ms. Surenko realized that some Russian and Belarusian players could support her. Still, it’s better not to meet them in the dressing room, although that would soon be the case when the WTA Tour leaves the UK and they return to competition.
Since the outbreak of war on February 24, there have been several matches when Ms. Surenko has wondered what she actually does with tennis. A special game is located in Marbella, Spain. That morning he had seen a photo of an administrative building in Mykolayiv, massively riddled with rocket attacks. She couldn’t get the image out of her head.
Recently, however, she has found clarity. She has always played tennis because she loves the sport. The richness offered to the sport never inspired him. Now they do.
“I play for money now,” she said. “I want to earn enough so I can donate it,” she said, “I think maybe it’s poor quality because it has nothing to do with tennis, but that’s what I play.”
Ms. Surenko, who comes to the tournament, has won four WTA titles in her career and has collected more than $5 million and $214,000 in earnings so far this year. The third round at Wimbledon earned him another $96,000. It’s a solid month of work for the world No. 101. He hopes to have more this summer.
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