His legend Roland Garros as an oasis of “non-politics” (a phenomenon where political, class, economic background does not count, but only sports) against the backdrop of what is historically unfolding in the world, the planet of elegance, high incomes, expensive tastes and political sterilization seems to be shaking.

The long-awaited sporting event is not immune from geopolitical events.

Political fate found a “loophole” in the unspoken words and feelings of the players and intervened in an institution traditionally politically “passive”.

Ukrainian tennis players, in the midst of the Russian invasion of their country, which has been going on for 15 months, appealed to intensify public dialogue on this issue, and Novak Djokovic “dived” into the waters of geopolitics, referring to what has been happening in Kosovo in recent days.

“Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence,” he wrote on camera.

Djokovic wrote: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia! Stop the Violence” on camera after his win today #RG23 as tensions in the region escalate again.

https://t.co/4gLSXg5wbo pic.twitter.com/A6ciqPX2WI

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) May 29, 2023

The event opened with spectators they don’t approve Marta Kostyuk from Ukraine, who at the end of the match with Arina Sobolenko from Belarus he refused to shake her handas usual.

🎾Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands with her opponent after the match with Belarusian Arina Sobolenko in the first round #FrenchOpen. According to Tribuna, some of the audience greeted the performance with applause, and some booed. pic.twitter.com/Fl74hqq8nw

— KievPost (@KyivPost) May 28, 2023

She said she was “proud of the Ukrainian air defense system.” Then her compatriot Elina Svitolina spoke about the “return of politics to sports”, calmly but loudly talking about the situation.

“I experience a mixture of different emotions, but everything is bad. This is anger, this is sadness, this is a burden that I carry every day, like all Ukrainians. You cannot avoid it. And we have been living this every day for almost 1.5 years,” he said.

According to her, her family and friends in Ukraine “are accustomed to constant anxiety. As soon as they hear something, they run to the shelters. They stay awake at night. It’s terrible, but they tell me it’s part of their lives now and it’s very sad.”

“We need help more than ever. Women are losing their men. Children, you know, lose their parents. There are so many things we can do and help in different ways. We can donate a couple of dollars, it will save lives. Or donate some of our time. We have lost the meaning of it all because of just words, words, words. But here empty words won’t helphe interpreted.

In an interview with the French Le Monde, Poland ranks first in the world rankings, Iga Swiatek confirmed that “there is indeed tension between the players. Sometimes the atmosphere in the locker room is heavy. At the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the tennis authorities lacked leadership. We were not explained how to be in this difficult situation and how to behave. The players from Ukraine are in the worst position, and it would be better if we paid more attention to how they feel and what they go through.”

“I meet these players every day in the dressing room. And they didn’t have the courage to come and talk to me when 15 months had already passed. I’m not sure if they will or not, ”admits Kostyuk.

Source: Washington Post.