Surviving bombs and hunger to become a professional tennis player
Let’s face it, you need a heap of cash to make it as a professional tennis player.
The cost of equipment, coaching and travel is astronomical and it can be difficult to fulfill potential depending on your circumstances.
Growing up in a country ravaged by war only further stacks the odds against you.
After playing in her first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open, Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova laid bare the obstacles she has faced on the way to the top.
The 25-year-old left Ukraine as a child because of her father’s opposition to the country’s pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych, but is back living there in spite of the ongoing full-scale invasion by Russia.
Now a top-100 player, it is not so long ago that Oliynykova was eating only sandwiches at tournaments to save money.
Under the omnipresent threat of missiles, Oliynykova had no electricity or water in her Kyiv apartment as she trained for the season-opening major.
“A drone hit the home across the road. My apartment was literally shaking because of the explosion,” she said.
The A$150,000 (£75,757) she earned for her first-round appearance at the Australian Open will help Oliynykova both on and off the court. Helping cash trickle further down the ladder is one of the reasons leading players are campaigning for the Grand Slams to offer more prize money.
“Oliynykova’s story is on another level. It is so inspiring and sad, but I hope every single player listens to it,” Slovakian former world number five Daniela Hantuchova told BBC Sport.
“Players are talking about prize money – when I won my first 25k tournament it was the first time we, as a family, could afford to have pizza with seafood on.
“I felt like I was eating caviar.”
Source: RhinoEasy News
