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Tennis News –
Former Ukrainian tennis player, coach and manager of the national team gave an exclusive interview to BTUOlga Savchuk: "You feel such horror inside, you scream about it and can’t reach out to people" On her professional activity - In the second half of April I commentated the WTA tournament in Stuttgart for a couple of days, and then the WTA tournament in Madrid. Next in line is the Eastbourne tournament, but all my TV work is done from here [Great Britain], from the studio. In between, there were many little things to be done to make my mom's stay here as comfortable as possible. You need to somehow be settled, resolve various issues with her visa, with her passport, in order to receive medical help and so on. We try to do everything to make her feel at home here. Also, of course, I take care of my daughter. As of my coaching activity, since the beginning of the year I have worked with Karolina Pliskova for only two weeks. There are no further plans yet. On her family in Ukraine - My family in Ukraine is already mentally very tired. We call each other almost every day. All of it is very difficult, because all the time you live in limbo. Waiting for the war to end. The first thing I do when I wake up is checking the news. I can't even imagine how my relatives, who are in Ukraine, are feeling right now. On the lack of response to interviews and statements after the Billie Jean King Cup tie - After our participation in the last tie against USA and all our interviews, nothing has changed. Nobody has contacted me at the tour level. I've been contacted on a regular basis by a tour representative, but she's new there and she rather does it more as a friend. People from the Player Relationship department wrote me one sentence each and that was it. Of course, there was very strong support from the USTA in the USA during our Billie Jean King Cup match. But other than that - nothing more. On WTA 's decision to remove points at Wimbledon - I knew that they discussed such an option, but I did not believe that they would do it anyway. When I found out that officially such a decision had been made, I was hugely upset. I still remember that it was in the evening, I texted our players. We all discussed that this was a very sad decision. I think it’s a wrong decision. I don't know if they thought about it or what kind of logic is behind it, but by such a decision the Tours supported the Russian and Belarusian players. At the same time, without saying any single thing about the Ukrainian players. I don’t know what kind of discrimination they are talking about, if by their own decision they discriminated against a much larger part of the Tour than a few players [from Russia and Belarus], but against another 1000 players from other countries.  On the reaction of the WTA, management and players to the war - Personally, a lot of the Western players offered me help. I’ve got a lot of messages asking how my family is. But only from the Western players. As for the Tour itself, I am very rarely on Tour, so I can only judge from the words of our girls. Also, like them, I absolutely do not understand the reaction of the ATP and the WTA , why they react so little in support of the Ukrainian players. No one contacted me about the Wimbledon issue, except for one representative of the ATP. He is my old friend. He asked my opinion on this matter. No one else in the WTA asked my opinion on the whole situation. It hurts me a lot. It's very personal. Everything about the Wimbledon decision is very clear to me, to all Ukrainians, to my entire family and also to my entire British family. And absolutely no one understands the decision of the Tours to remove points. In general, I want to speak from the experience of such situations when I try to convey the truth to my colleagues in Europe, to some people I know. I checked local news from all possible sources to understand how much and how detailed the media shows the war in Ukraine. So in Great Britain events are covered not superficially, but, on the contrary, quite deeply. But when I show friends and colleagues videos from my friends and relatives, where there are destroyed houses, all this horror from Bucha and Mariupol, many people are surprised. Like, oh, this is how destroyed buildings look, oh, turns out everything is that bad. For me personally, this is an odd reaction, it indicates that people are actually very superficially interested in what is happening. In the tennis world, as I understand it, 90% are not interested at all. It personally shocked me, hurt me, and I think about it every day. I constantly talk about it with my mother and I can’t understand how this is even possible and how many people... I can’t say that they don’t care, but they just don’t even try to find out any information. Although, of course, a lot of people are worried and helping, but here I am talking specifically about what I face in the tennis world with my peers. On a full ban of Russian and Belarusian players - There are coaches, there are players who personally told me that they support a full ban and the decision of Wimbledon, but they are in the minority. I have noticed such cases that when I asked someone personally, these people agree with the decision about a full ban, but they do not state it out loud. And when they give an interview later, then they say something completely different. This is most likely due to the fact that it is difficult for them to declare it openly while at the tournament they have to look these players in the face. It's probably hard to say it out loud, which is why many people support Wimbledon's decision, but when talking to the media they say something completely different. There were cases when someone told me that this was a wrong decision, but then you start talking to them, explaining what they do not understand in the Wimbledon’s statement and in general why there should be a full ban, and then people say, yes, really, I see why this is the right decision. Therefore, I am very surprised how superficially people delve into this situation and how much they do not delve into it at all. Basically, they find out about some news from rumors, no one goes deep into it. On whether there are those who support the other side and believe that Ukrainians need to stop disturbing the peace in Tours - Surely, there are people with such views, but they will not say it publicly. On the idea to hold an "exhibition" with tennis players from 3 countries or make them play together in the mixed doubles - To be honest, for the first time I learned about it from your own news. This is a ridiculous idea, in my opinion, I don’t know who could come up with such a thing. These people probably don't watch the news or read what's going on. They can come to Ukraine, they can visit us, they can visit Ukraine, and then, perhaps, come up with this idea again.  On the lack of empathy, tone-deaf comments and the refusal to consult with the Ukrainian side - I don't understand why it's hard for the officials to ask us something. It seems that the Tours are trying to downplay everything, to sweep it under a rug, and generally do not take into account the Ukrainian players and their voices. There was no particular reaction or feedback after our players’ statements, but they are siding with the Russian and Belarusian players with their decision. If I understand it right, because of the decision to not give points at Wimbledon, now the Russian player will become the World No.1. I don't know if the Tours thought about it or not. It's just nonsense how their decision led to this. I have a lot of questions. Such big organizations that have so many resources and react so quickly to everything, I think it was obvious that they should have a meeting with players from three countries in Indian Wells in the first days and discuss everything. And not to talk about charitable donations and help only after they find out they won’t play at Wimbledon due to LTA’s decision. For me, it's all black and white. It's probably hard for people to imagine how terrible it is until it happens to them. Yes, everyone say words of sympathy and support, but they have no real idea of what a tragedy it is, they cannot feel it. I see this in my very close friends from Western countries. All the same, it is very difficult for them to understand it, they try, and they reassure me that they understand, but I see that it is challenging for them to feel it as long as they do not experience it firsthand. On working with Karolina Pliskova and her help to Ukrainian refugees - Karolina and I are in constant contact. This year I worked with her for 2-3 weeks. This is not much, because she has a big team, she trains with Sascha Bajin on an ongoing basis. There is no particular need in me. It happens, but very rare, during training blocks or at tournaments when she wants to change the environment. But we constantly communicate, text and call each other. I am aware of everything that happens. Karolina and her sister Kristina are some of my closest friends. Of course, they support me and my family in every possible way. They repeatedly told me that I can ask for any help and they are always ready to help in any way they can. Since I'm a close friend, of course they take it to heart. They are very sympathetic and very supportive, empathize, constantly ask me about my needs. I know that at the Karolina’s tennis academy, she and her husband hosted many Ukrainian children with their mothers. On her job as a commentator and future prospects - This year we agreed that I would work at 4 tournaments. 2 have already passed, there are 2 more left. There is still an opportunity to agree on the fifth tournament. It's not a lot, but the commentary world is the same as tennis, with a lot of competition, with many undertows, and it's very difficult to break into it. There is a large flow of applicants and they are trying to somehow vary between different commentators. This is also a very difficult world. I would like to do more, I am trying to get to the US Open, but this is a completely different organization, so this is still in question. When I comment on a large number of matches, I watch all these games, and then it helps me in working with the players, in working with Karolina, with the national team. But since the war started my focus is very scattered, I feel emptiness in my head and it is very difficult to focus on something, to be honest. I can’t even read books, which I usually like to do, I can’t really watch movies, which I usually did to relax. It is tough to focus on results and follow tennis now. When I commented on the tournaments in Madrid, Stuttgart, I had the impression, as people describe it, like, what am I doing here? Why is everything so normal at the tournament, everything goes on as usual, people are cheerful and happy, they play tennis as if nothing is happening, when my heart just breaks into peaces. But you understand that you have to work, and the world moves on and everyone minds its own business, but the feeling that you constantly live in some two realities.  On how her attitude towards tennis has changed - Arriving at the match of the national team, watching tennis on TV and talking with our girls, as well as with my husband, who works in the Tour and he says basically the same, there is a feeling of some kind of unreality. Because when you are at a tournament, it seems that nothing is happening there, in the tennis world life goes on as usual and it seems that no one knows or feels that there is a war going on. Because of it a feeling of unreality arises, it is emotionally difficult to be in such an environment and around people who are absolutely satisfied and happy. And inside you have such horror and such a tragedy, you kind of scream about it, but you can’t reach out to people. But these are my personal feelings, moreover, on an ongoing basis. Again, I would like from many players, judging by their interviews, a greater understanding of what is happening in reality, but, probably, I am demanding the impossible, because until you experience it firsthand, it is difficult to understand. On parenting and her daughter - My daughter is growing fast. Almost walking. Like all mothers, I probably have days when I don’t have time to do anything, even go to the shower. And there are days when it seems that I am on top of the world, and I have time for everything, and think, how good I am. I think, like all parents, there are ups and downs. A huge help now that now my mother is here with me, so I can even work, otherwise it would be unrealistic to do both. The most important thing now is to make sure that my emotional state does not affect my daughter, since she is still very small. On her personal recipe for managing stress and staying optimistic - I still haven’t developed such a recipe, probably, like all Ukrainians, I have not found it yet. I have days when I am insanely desperate and can be somewhere in the city and burst into tears. It's good that my husband is always by my side and supports me. Of course, it is also difficult for him to see this. There are days when, on the contrary, I am in high spirits, but this is still very rare. I still believe in our victory, it will certainly happen. It just seems to me that the most difficult thing is to live in this limbo, in the unknown about how long it will last and how soon our victory will be. It seems to me that the whole nation lives from just one day to another. Of course, there is optimism, but it will be very difficult for Ukrainian tennis and Ukrainian sports in general. Because infrastructures, federations have been destroyed, therefore a lot of work, time and money will be needed by restoration. Young athletes don’t have this time, they need to develop and grow now. Website BTU - Ukrainian Tennis - joins the fundraising to help internally displaced persons in Dnipropetrovsk Region
You can support those, who have been forced to flee their homes due to the Russian military aggression, with a donation via PayPal? Источник: btu.org.ua |
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