Tennis star Andrey Rublev stood by his decision to write an anti-war message on a camera following one of his matches. After defeating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(5) in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships in February, the 25-year-old took the opportunity to send a very poignant message.
The Russian wrote 'No War Please’ on a camera after advancing to the final of the tournament, which he went on to win. He also wrote ‘Peace, Peace, Peace, All we need’ after winning a match at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, nine months after Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine. It has been a tumultuous year for the world No.8 and his Russian and Belarusian counterparts, who were frozen out of British tennis events as a result of the invasion - most notably Wimbledon, which he described as "complete discrimination" back in April.
But despite the challenges he has had to overcome this year, Rublev says he is proud of speaking out against the invasion. “I don’t like to talk about myself and to say good things about myself, I can only judge myself,” he shared. “That’s why last year especially with the situation happening in the world you feel that maybe you don’t deserve and when you feel support from people, especially in Turin, I have never felt something like that before. It was a really special moment.
