‘Never Thought I’d Have to Live Through Another One’ – 97-Year-Old Ukrainian Tennis Player on the Brutal War

On Monday, Leonid Stanislavskyi, living in Ukraine, expressed his wish to survive and get through the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. At 97-years, Leonid holds the Guinness Book record for being the oldest tennis player. However, even at this age, Leonid does not shy away from playing professionally. The Ukrainian is an active player and regularly participates in ITF’s senior category tournaments.

Stuck in the crisis-hit zone of Ukraine, Stanislavskyi criticizes the countries for getting into a state of war and hopes for an end to the war soon. “What is this? What good is it? In the 21st century there can’t be war. The war needs to be stopped, an agreement has to be reached.”

Born in 1924, Leonid was 15-years-old when World War II started. Completing his education, he served as an engineer, helping to build Soviet warplanes. Surviving the greatest war in the world’s history, Leonid expressed his concern seeing the current situation in both countries, as he compared the current situation to that of World War II.

“I never thought that I would have to live through another, more frightening war where people from both sides are dying — mothers are losing their children, wives are losing their sons and their husbands.”

Turning 98 on 22nd March 2022, Stanislavskyi expressed his wish to reach the triple-digit of age. However, seeing the current situation, he only wishes to survive. He says, “I hope I live to reach 100. I have to survive this frightening situation.”

Leonid Stanislavskyi explains his living condition since the Russia-Ukraine crisis

It’s been over two weeks since the two nations have been in conflict with each other. In such inter-nation conflicts, the most affected people are largely civilians living in the nations. Taking extra precautions to be safe in such an unpleasant situation, Stanislavskyi asserted that he has not gone out since the start of the crisis.

“The war started on (February) 24th. From the 24th till now, I have practically not gone out. I’ve stayed at home… I have supplies, the fridge is full. I’m sitting at home, not going anywhere.”

Seeing Ukraine become a country in front of his eyes, the ITF player refrained from leaving the country at such times. Instead, he opted to stay back in Ukraine and hope the situation to get better. He also rejected her daughter’s offer of shifting with her to Poland.

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“My daughter Tanya is in Poland. She wants to take me there. But I decided to stay here. I have bad hearing, so I sleep at night and don’t hear anything. Last night there were bombings, in the morning there were air-raid sirens again.”

Leonid’s love for tennis

Giving over 60 years to tennis, Stanislavskyi has a rare attachment with the sport. Last year, his wish to play with Rafael Nadal came true when the Spaniard invited him to his academy in Mallorca. The 97-year-old player also has a wish to play against the Swiss legend Roger Federer.

He last played at the 40th ITF Super-Seniors World Individual Championships in October last year. An end to the crisis could give Leonid a chance to come back to the court again.

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“Tennis is my life, my destiny. I’ve played tennis at a serious level since I was 90, I’ve played abroad, I’ve played in World Championships, I’ve played in the European Championships.”