Elina Sivtolina has been coping with the devastating war Russia launched on her home country, Ukraine, in February, and the former Wimbledon semifinalist thinks Russian and Belarusian players should be banned from tennis as a result.
When the war initially broke out, Sivtolina made clear she would not play against Russians or Belarusians unless they were deemed neutral athletes, a move the ATP and WTA Tour later implemented.
Last month, Svitolina began her break from tennis after becoming pregnant with her first child. However, that news has not stopped her from being vocal about what is happening to her country and the stances she thinks tennis' governing bodies should take.
An example is Svitolina's belief that Russian and Belarusian players competing as neutral athletes is no longer enough. Instead, she wants to see them banned while the war is ongoing to make a statement about how unacceptable Russia's actions are and how damaging they have been to Ukrainian sports.
"It's their decision to make, they decided to take this path. "I don't support it because I feel like they should have taken more serious action. Ukraine's sports is thrown back by 10 years minimum because all the infrastructure has been damaged or completely destroyed."
Svitolina recounted how unbearable the first few days of the war, in particular, were when outlining why she thinks Russian and Belarusian athletes should be banned, admitting she cannot clearly remember those days because of how stressful they were.
"I can tell you many, many factors that can play a role in the decision of not letting Russian and Belarusian players compete. I was actually more worried about the war than about myself. I don't even remember what happened during the first few days. It was unbearable."
The 27-year-old also admitted the war has changed her perspective on life, and she cherishes the time she spends with her family even more than previously.
"The priorities changed, the vision of life changed. It's not that I didn't cherish the family time with my parents before but now I really enjoy spending time with them. They got a chance to leave Ukraine and they are in Europe right now. A lot of things changed inside, mentally. A war really changes people."
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