Ukraine's Elina Svitolina defeats Russia's Anastasia in Tennis match
March 2 : As the war between Russia and Ukraine mark its seventh day of the war, Ukrainian tennis champion Elina Svitolina defeated Russia's Anastasia at the Monterrey Open on March 1, pledging to donate her prize money to Ukraine's military.
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This achievement of Elina Svitolina signifies defeat to Russia owing to the preavaling crisis between Russia and Ukraine, thus Ukainian still believe that they can win war against Russians.
Elina Svitolina put her hand on her heart and waved to the crowd after winning the match.
“I was on a mission for my country,” Svitolina said in an on-court interview of her performance, which saw huge buzz from the crowd.
"This was a very special match for me and moment here ... I’m in a very sad mood, but I’m happy that I’m playing tennis here," She added.
In the tournament Svitolina, the outstanding player wore blue and yellow which are the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
The 27-year-old promised to donate her prize money as well as from upcoming Masters Events at Indian Wells and in Miami, to the Ukrainian army and humanitarian efforts in her homeland.
Earlier, she refused to play the tournament with any of the Russian or Belarusian athletes until and unless the tennis' governing bodies agreed to ban the use of their flags, symbols and anthem. She gave such statement in light of the Russians invading Ukraine and injured thousands of Ukrainians.
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"Really until the very last moment we did not believe that this war would actually start and then everything just happened at night... Everyone is terrified, everyone is heartbroken," she said.
-PTC News
