Sergiy Stakhovsky is a recently retired professional tennis player from Ukraine who has left his wife and three young children at home in Hungary to go back to his birthplace to help how he can during Russia’s invasion.
FILE -Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine reacts as he wins against Roger Federer of Switzerland in their men's second round singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. About 1 1/2 months after the last match of Sergiy Stakhovsky’s professional tennis career, the 36-year-old Ukrainian left his wife and three young children in Hungary and went back to his birthplace to help however he could during Russia’s invasion.
“A lot of people are saying that they’re waking up and hoping ... it was just a bad dream. But, you know, on Day 16, doesn’t work anymore,” he said. “First couple of days, surreal. You don’t believe that it’s actually happening. And the next thing you know, you get used to it, and you’re just trying to find a way of helping your country to actually survive.”, Stakhovsky began splitting his time between Ukraine and the Czech Republic to improve his game.
Retirement did not go as planned. On Feb. 24, Russia began attacking Ukraine. In the wee hours of Feb. 28, Stakhovsky arrived in Kyiv.He said he’s received hundreds of messages of support from members of the tennis world -- players, coaches, officials -- and mentioned a few by name: Richard Gasquet, Lucas Pouille, Aljaz Bedene and Novak Djokovic, the 20-time Grand Slam champion whose text messages Stakhovsky shared via social media.