On Sunday, Rafael Nadal, now 35, played in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open, staged in the tennis utopia of Indian Wells, Calif. And, on Sunday, the man who beat Nadal at that event in 2014, now 33, was “carrying protection” and seeking sanctuary at a location he preferred not to disclose near the nucleus of Kyiv. He had to stop our interview multiple times because of disconcerting noises he overheard.
Alex Dolgopolov always punched above his weight. Listed charitably at 5'11" and 157 pounds, the player known by most as “The Dog” compensated with a leaping jackrabbit-y serve and a go-for-broke mentality. He won titles in singles and doubles. He reached No. 13 in the world. He earned more than $7 million in prize money. After a persistent wrist injury forced him to retire last year, he was preparing to transition to a career in business, taking boxing classes to stay fit and enjoying time at home with his girlfriend after circumnavigating the globe for years. “But then,” he says, “there was a change.”
A big one. Last month, his country, Ukraine, was invaded by Russia without provocation. Dolgopolov had enough cash and cachet to avoid service but says he didn’t even consider it. “It was a hard decision as in ‘dangerous,’ but not hard as in ‘difficult.’” As he put it, “We traded a racket and strings for a gun and bullets,” and he enlisted.
