Amidst the controversy between Ukraine and Russia, tennis players have been affected too. One of the major changes came when Ukrainian players decided to ditch the courtesy handshake with the players from Russia to take a stand for their country. This also included Ukrainian player Elina Svitolina.

And now, ahead of the next season, Svitolina has made her intentions clear for the tournament. Her stance against the Russian and Belarusian players does not seem to change much, and she is still not in favor of having players from their country play at any tournaments in the next season.

Elina Svitolina shares her stance on the Ukraine-Russia controversy

It all started with Russia’s invasion of their neighboring country, Ukraine. And this changed the entire perspective of many players, including Elina Svitolina, on tennis being just a sport. She made it a platform to show her disgrace against Russian and Belarusian players as well. In a recent interview, Elina Svitolina shared how her stance for 2024 continues to remain the same as it was in 2023.

She exclaimed, “My position still stays the same, that I don’t think that they should continue playing for their country. But right now, my focus is on helping people. We have to take the situation as it is right now and focus on what we can control: focus on some fundraisers, on some events that we can raise funds for, for kids and for Ukraine.”

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Not only does her stand remain the same, but she also plans to help people in any way she can. Elina Svitolina also met with the president of her country to offer any help that she could for the kids and people of her nation.

Svitolina offers help to the president to support her country

Elina Svitolina met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in early December, as she was quite impressed with his leadership qualities. Svitolina shared that when she met him, he offered her help in achieving the goals that he has for the country. As of now, Elina Svitolina is the ambassador for UNITED24, which is Ukraine’s official fundraising platform.

This was launched by the president of the country, and this program focuses on seeking a way in which the infrastructure that has been damaged due to the war can be refurbished.

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