Daria Kasatkina, the 11th player in the world, expressed her concern about the unstable situation in Russia on Monday after her victory in the first round of the WTA 500 tournament on grass at Eastbourne over Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina (6-3, 6 -1). The latter did not shake hands with the Russian player after her defeat, just like Elina Svitolina, another Ukrainian, had refused to do so at Roland-Garros.
“What I feel is crap”
But Kasatkina, who has repeatedly taken a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had already expressed his understanding for this attitude. Asked after the match about the aborted rebellion of the paramilitary group Wagner last weekend, she did not, as often, mince words.
“What I feel is shitty (sic), honestly,” she said. I won’t hide it. My family, my parents are still in Russia. As you can see, the last few days, it’s been a big mess (sic) there too. Daria Kasatkina, however, stressed once again that the Ukrainians are “in an even worse situation”.
“I’m worried about the people I love”
“I’m worried about my friends because my best friends live in Voronezh, the city where the guy entered with his private army (Evgueni Prigozhin, the head of Wagner). I am very worried for the people I love. »
For her part, Anhelina Kalinina admitted that tennis was a way for her to escape the reality of the war in her country: “Since the start of the war, I followed everything, every day. It’s a lot. At times, I was overwhelmed. But on the tennis court, I just try to unplug my head. It helps me a lot. »
