As horror grows in his country, Ukrainian tennis finds a refuge in the Davis Cup: he beats Barbados in Turkey

Antalya It is a spa Turkey, surrounded by the Old Port, in which multiple yachts and beaches surrounded by large hotels stand out. It is the main access road to the southern Mediterranean region of the country, the Turquoise Coast, named for the color of its waters. It was, in the distant past, an important Roman port.

Turkey proposed a meeting for next week in that city, between representatives of Russia and Ukraine, in the middle of the war. In that natural paradise, a series of tennisfor him World Group 1. The emotionally devastated Ukrainian team left their homeland to concentrate on a couple of sporting matches, net in between. That’s what he wanted: to dedicate himself to a noble discipline, even if it was for a couple of hours, while the horror does not end in his country.

The show of integrity is extraordinary, because tennis players play with their hearts in their hands and their heads in their families and friends. It seems impossible against Barbados. Not because of the opponent’s tennis potential, of course, but because of his undermined spirits. But for the moment they pull it offwith iron fists.

In the first game, Oleksii Krutykh (401st in the ranking) beat Darian King (387th) 6-2 and 6-1. Later, Illya Marchenko (217º) beat Matthew Foster-Estwick 6-3, 6-1. Ukraine, then, is up 2-0.

The flag waved more than ever, with some contained tears, with pride and overflow of emotions.

At the same time, tennis in the world sends messages. The italian team of Davis Cup exhibited a banner with the legend “no war”, or “no to war”, in the prelude to the clash with Slovakia in Bratislava. The same thing happened at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, in the series between the Argentina and Czech Republic. With an equal inscription on a banner similar pose both teams pose, before vs. Sebastian Baez vs. Jiri Lehecka. The Davis is the first sporting event on Argentine soil that manifested itself in favor of peace in the Russia vs. Ukraine.

War has all kinds of answers. Days before, Sergiy Stakhovskywho announced his retirement a few weeks ago, enlisted in the ukrainian army. He is a public figure in his country: he reached 31st place in the ATP ranking and went down in local history by beating Roger Federer in the second stage of Wimbledon 2013 (6-7, 7-6, 7-5 and 7-6).

In an interview with Sky News, the 36-year-old man said he was on a family vacation when the Russian invasion took place. He immediately left his wife and his three children in Hungary and moved to Kiev. “I have no military experience, but I do have experience with a gun in private.”, he said on British television.

His relatives stayed in Hungary. It is not an isolated case: many Ukrainians who were outside the country returned to take up arms.

Denys Molchanov and Vitaliy Sachko They will try to close this Saturday the Davis Cup series against Barbados, in the doubles match, although the match really matters little. The central, the dramatic, happens on the other side.