The first racket of Ukraine Angelina Kalinina, who made it to the second round of a major grass tournament, spoke about the absence of athletes from the aggressor country at Wimbledon-2022.

" Yes, all these guys are players, I understand, we are all athletes.. But we can't compare points, we can't compare this ban to perform with what is happening in Ukraine now"

We cannot compare what they are now without with the fact that millions of people are being killed, that people are dying, people are becoming refugees and trying to survive, all mothers with children, how many people are left without money, without a family, without work. They have nothing. They are like homeless. So such things cannot be compared,"

Ukrainian tennis player Lesya Tsurenko said that in the absence of Russians and Belarusians she feels less pressure.

" I definitely feel less pressure. In most cases, nothing personal, but the situation is that our countries are at war. So definitely less pressure and I feel a lot better..

Why do I feel pressure when they play? I already talked about it. This is my personal feeling, I don’t know how it was with other Ukrainians, but only one tennis player from Belarus told me that she supports us, me, Ukraine and is against the war. From others I have not heard that they are against, I do not know their opinion. If others didn’t tell me anything, I feel bad and pressure builds up inside,” Tsurenko said..

Recall that Wimbledon became the first international tennis tournament to ban Russians and Belarusians from participating in individual competitions.. The tournament will take place from June 27 to July 10 in the London suburb of Wimbledon..

This decision was not supported at all by international tennis organizations - ATP, WTA and ITF.. They have decided not to count tennis players' rating points for their performance at Wimbledon..