Russia’s Andrey Rublev voices support for peace following Ukraine attacks

Russia’s Andrey Rublev voiced his support for peace after reaching the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The second seed took to Instagram prior to his match against American Mackenzie McDonald to post images of friendship with Ukraine following Russia’s wide-ranging attack on the country.

After recovering from a poor start to claim a 2-6 6-3 6-1 victory, Rublev said: “In these moments you realise that my match is not important. It’s not about my match, how it affects me. What’s happening is much more terrible.

Rublev shared similar thoughts at the weekend after teaming up with Ukrainian Denys Molchanov to win a doubles title in Marseille.

The 24-year-old, who is from Moscow, also spoke about the online abuse he receives because of his nationality.

He said: “Of course I get some bad comments on the Internet because I am Russian, so I get some aggressive comments. I cannot react on them because if I react on them, I’m going to show the same.

“If I want to have peace, I need to be like it doesn’t matter. Even if they throw rocks to me, I need to show I’m for the peace, I’m not here to be aggressive or something, even if I’m not responsible for something. I think this is the right way to do it, at least for me.”

Elina Svitolina, the most prominent Ukrainian tennis player, changed her Twitter profile picture to a hand in the colours of the country’s flag alongside the words ‘Pray for Ukraine’.

She also posted a message expressing her sadness at the situation, writing: “I can’t,” accompanied by crying and heartbroken emojis.

No main tour events are due to take place in Russia until the autumn but the Moscow Cup, a stop on the second-tier ATP Challenger Tour which had been scheduled for next week, has now been cancelled.

A statement from the ATP read: “Due to concerns over player safety and uncertainty related to international travel following the recent escalation of events between Russia and Ukraine, next week’s ATP Challenger tournament in Moscow will not take place as scheduled.

“The security of players will remain our top priority in assessing the scheduling of subsequent ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour events in the region. We continue to monitor the situation.”

A third-tier International Tennis Federation event in Kazan is on the calendar in early April.

“Some ITF Junior and Senior Tour events are scheduled in Russia this year. Our first and highest priority is the health and safety of players and all those traveling, competing, and working these events.

“We are closely monitoring how this situation evolves and any course of action will be decided based on a thorough risk assessment and the advice we receive from security experts and the relevant authorities.”

An ITF event in Vyshkovo, Ukraine, due to take place from April 18-24 was postponed on Thursday.