Ukrainian Lesya Turenko, who is ranked 63rd in the world, hopes that players from Ukraine will beat athletes from Russia and Belarus as many times as they get a chance at Roland Garros.

Lesya Tsurenko and appeal to Ukrainian athletes at Roland Garros

“The message to all the other athletes before the international championships in France is always the same: we have to go and beat them on all the fields. It makes no sense for Ukrainian athletes to be relegated. What kind of image will we show?” Tsurenko said.

She also complained that Russian and Belarusian athletes are not supportive at all, although some of them used to be her good friends.

“On the first day of the war, only one person came to talk to me. This person had tears in his eyes because something so terrible was happening. Today, not a single player (Russian or Belarusian) talks to me anymore. I have no sympathy for any of them.

I can only say that if they suffer, we suffer even more. There are many ways to show disapproval (intrusion). You can change your citizenship or leave your country with your family if I’m afraid,” the Ukrainian athlete added, News.ro reports.

The Roland Garros tournament takes place from May 28 to June 11, has a total prize pool of 49.6 million euros, and is the 127th tournament. Iga Sviatek and Rafael Nadal (14-time winner in Paris) became the champions of the title.