Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev has spoken out after his home country invaded Ukraine in a hugely escalating situation.
President Vladimir Putin launched a "full-scale invasion" in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Explosions have been heard across the country, in cities such as Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa and the capital city of Kyiv.
137 Ukrainians were killed on the first day of invasion and hundreds more injured with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky calling up reservists.
Fighting has continued today with Kremlin forces moving in on Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, which has led to thousands of civilians desperately fleeing - some to the city of Lviv in eastern Ukraine, others have taken off to to the borders of neighbouring Poland.
Medvedev, the new world No 1, is currently competing in the Mexican Open in Acapulco and following his quarter-final victory over Yoshihito Nishioka, the 26-year-old Russian has shared his thoughts on the war with tennis taking a major backseat.
“By being a tennis player I want to promote peace all over the world," he said after reaching the last four.
"We play in so many different countries. I've been in so many different countries as a junior and as a pro.
"It's just not easy to hear all this news. I'm all for peace."
He added: “In this moment, you understand that tennis sometimes is not that important.
"It was definitely not easy to play and I am happy that I managed to win the match. That was a little bit of a rollercoaster today."
On Monday, Medvedev will become the 27th man to become world No 1 since the rankings introduction in 1973 and is the first person other than Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray to be the top ranked men's player since 2004.
Discussing his achievement, he said: “There were a lot of feelings when I woke up, then Novak lost and before the match I didn’t even know that I’m going to become number one if he loses no matter what.
“I had a lot of messages and I understood that’s happening, more emotions, better ones.”
If the Russian wants to finish his incredible week in Mexico on a high, he will have to defeat Rafael Nadal, who prevailed in their epic Australian Open final last month in five sets.
The reigning US Open champion is keen to learn from his mistakes in Melbourne and turn the tables on his rival in the Acapulco semi-finals.
“If I play Rafa, it’s always special to play against him,” Medvedev said. “Kind of a chance to get my revenge.
“I have to learn from the best, which is him, Roger, Novak, Andy. Always when they were losing a tough fight, they were trying to get their revenge.”
“Sometimes they managed to do it, sometimes not. That’s what I’m going to try to do if I play Rafa.”
