Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina, ranked 11th in the world, expressed concern about the volatile political situation in Russia on Monday after her first-round victory over Ukrainian Angelina Kalinina at the WTA tournament in Eastbourne, AFP reported.

Kalinin did not shake Kasatkinia’s hand

Kalinina did not shake Kasatkina’s hand after the 6-3, 6-1 grass-court defeat in Eastbourne, as Elina Svitolina refused to do so at Roland Garros.

But Kasatkina, who has repeatedly opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has already expressed her understanding of this position.

When asked after the match about the failed uprising of the leader of the “Wagner” PMK Yevgeny Prigozhin at the end of last week, Kasatkina, as is often the case, gave a frank answer.

“What I feel is crap, to be honest. I’m not going to hide it. My family, my parents are still in Russia. As you have seen, there has also been a big disaster there in recent days,” she stated, once again stressing that Ukrainians “are in a much worse situation.”

“I worry about my friends, because my best friends live in Voronezh, a city where a guy entered with his private army (Pryhogin…) I really worry about the people I love,” she admitted.

In the next round, Kasatkina will meet the Czech Karolina Pliskova.

For her part, despite the defeat, the Ukrainian Kalinin admitted that tennis was a way for her to escape a little from the reality of the war in the country.

“Since the war started, I have been watching everything, every day. It means a lot. Sometimes I was stunned,” she explained.

“But on the tennis court I try to switch off. It helps me a lot,” she added.