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‘I Couldn’t Handle It’- Ukranian Tennis Player From Colorado State University Details the Impact of Ukraine-Russia Conflict on Her Career
Ukrainian tennis players are continuously opening up about their situation amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. Being out of the country, even though the players might be safe. However, with their family and friends still in Ukraine, the mental trauma on these players remains unmatched by anyone else.
Amongst the many stories, the latest entrant is a story of a Colorado State University tennis player, Anastasiia Kotsyuba. Her parents live in the port city of Odesa, Ukraine. The city has been one of the worst-hit areas in Ukraine amid the tensions with Russia. Even though her parents are safe right now, the fear of losing them keeps on haunting Anastasiia.
Opening up on why she fears her parent’s life in Odesa, the young player said, “My parents’ friends’ house got bombed like a week ago, and they live five minutes from my parents’ house. They (Russia) have been attacking Odesa from the sea, and their house just got destroyed.”
The first few days of the young tennis player from Ukraine
WTA and ATP players from Ukraine have been continuously opening up about how they have been living on their phone since the start of the crisis. As per the players, they have been having sleepless nights, being continuously on their phones contacting their loved ones. Even though they are competing on the tour, they have been failing to match the performance they had previously. Reason? A massive mental pressure.
The story of Anastasiia is close to being similar to that of these players. Opening up on her condition, the Ukrainian tennis player admitted that she couldn’t focus on anything. She also admitted to being on the phone for almost the whole day.
“The first couple weeks, I was just crying; I could not handle it,” “I could not focus and study. I did not want to see anyone. I could barely practice. I tried to hit balls because it would help distract myself from the news and everything, because I was watching the statistics on my phone.” Anastasiia said.
“I was on my phone like 19 hours a day. I wouldn’t sleep. I would not eat,” she further added.
The ongoing struggle
Prior to the inter-nation tensions, the player had a highly rigorous schedule. Her busy schedule involved attending classes, going for tennis practice, traveling for matches and practices, etc. However, it was the 24th of February 2022 that turned her schedule upside down. The player who once had a highly active morning, now wakes up in fear every day, with her first task being listening to the news.
Elaborating on her daily morning schedule, Anastasiia expressed herself saying, “Every morning when I wake up, I have these different news channels, Ukrainian news channels. The first thing I open is the Odesa news channel, so I make sure they’re safe first thing. Then I have a Ukrainian news channel, so I can see and figure out what’s going there.”
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The conflict is certainly taking a toll on these players. Going forward, will they be able to focus on their respective sports again? Only time will tell.
The post ‘I Couldn’t Handle It’- Ukranian Tennis Player From Colorado State University Details the Impact of Ukraine-Russia Conflict on Her Career appeared first on EssentiallySports.
