{"id":488202,"date":"2026-02-20T18:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/488202\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T18:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:34:21","slug":"unlikely-breakout-star-who-plays-anti-tennis-and-trains-in-warzone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/488202\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlikely breakout star who plays \u2018anti-tennis\u2019 and trains in warzone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandra Oliynykova video calls from a food court in central Kyiv because an air raid alert interrupted her journey home from training. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s active but we\u2019re inside so we should be pretty much OK,\u201d she says with a laugh, before explaining how the near-daily ritual pales in comparison to her preparations for her grand slam debut at the Australian Open last month. \u201cThe night before I [left for Melbourne], a Shahed drone hit the building just across the road. I woke up when I heard the explosions. It was so close my apartment was shaking and I couldn\u2019t sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian is perhaps the most unlikely breakout star on the WTA Tour in recent months. The only top-level player still living in the capital, her father serves on the front lines with one of the army\u2019s most effective drone units. A generator at her tennis club means there is still light and water when the city\u2019s power goes out, but the 25-year-old has to take an overnight train to the Hungarian or Romanian border before travelling to her next tournament. <\/p>\n

Long before the war started, and as recently as last year, Oliynykova was still living off her prize money from tournament to tournament, sleeping in vans and hostels, sustaining herself on ham sandwiches. <\/p>\n

\"Oleksandra<\/p>\n

Oliynykova trains in Kyiv and has to travel to the Hungarian or Romanian border before heading to tournaments<\/p>\n

VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I was playing in Greece and we were staying in the parking lot of the hotel. It was OK, but we gave some bread to the [stray] dogs. They started to protect the camper and block the other cars and we got kicked out,\u201d she says, laughing again. Even after Oliynykova won back-to-back ITF titles in Sardinia in May, she had to sleep at the airport because the prize money had not yet reached her bank account.<\/p>\n

Yet, in spite of that backdrop \u2014 or rather because of it, as Oliynykova explains \u2014 she has rapidly risen to No71 in the world after winning three WTA 125 titles at the end of last year. Then, a fortnight ago, she reached her first WTA 250 semi-final at the Transylvania Open, where she lost to Emma Raducanu<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It was not only Oliynykova\u2019s striking tattoos \u2014 along with temporary bats inked underneath her eyes \u2014 and piercings stemming from a love of rock music that caught the eye, but her unconventional playing style, deploying a mixture of slices and moon balls that maddened opponents. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a teenager, coaches didn\u2019t like my technique. Even now they are saying we need to change things, but I\u2019m not trying to play normal. I want to be the best in my game style \u2014 maybe not the best in the world \u2014 but this anti-tennis player who can break the rhythm of any person on tour,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The point where everything clicked came at Oliynykova\u2019s lowest ebb. After falling short in qualifying at Wimbledon last year, delaying her dream of reaching the singles main draw at a grand slam for the first time, she left disillusioned by the pursuit of money and ranking points, along with the presence of Russian players who Oliynykova claims have supported Vladimir Putin\u2019s regime. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came back, I cried for so many hours. I was really depressed,\u201d she says. \u201cMy father told everyone in his unit that he couldn\u2019t communicate with me, that I wouldn\u2019t talk to him and didn\u2019t want to play, and then they started texting me like, \u2018Girl, come on. We all want to see you in the top 100. We want to see you in the national team. Do it for us. We are proud of you. Don\u2019t stop. Remind the world about us.\u2019 I think that\u2019s what really helped me, because I feel so free now. I\u2019m not thinking about the results. I\u2019m playing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resistance in the face of upheaval has been the constant theme of Oliynykova\u2019s life. When she was ten years old, her father\u2019s face was plastered across the news for protesting against the president at the time, Viktor Yanukovych. \u201cHe ran a [clothing] production company and he printed T-shirts with a football slogan on, but it was kind of offensive [to Yanukovych],\u201d Oliynykova says. Police destroyed the company\u2019s offices and her father rushed home and told Oliynykova and her younger brother, Nazar, who is also a tennis player, that they had to leave in the middle of the night. <\/p>\n

\"Oksana<\/p>\n

Oliynykova played with bats inked underneath her eyes at the Transylvania Open as her playing style caught the eye<\/p>\n

HORVATH TAMAS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum was crying and told me to pack my things. I remember watching the news and I was worried. I was too young to understand what was happening, but I knew something was wrong. I learnt about words like \u2018democracy\u2019 and \u2018free speech\u2019,\u201d Oliynykova says. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom one point, it was a huge trauma for me, because after that I\u2019ve lived all my life with the feeling that in one moment I can lose everything. But also, when you have someone to look up to, who is willing to risk everything, like my father, it makes you a really principled person. You\u2019re not scared to speak up if you believe something. A lot of things I\u2019m doing are because I saw my father doing the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The route to Croatia was an odyssey in itself. After crossing the border, their GPS led them into a prohibited area in Transnistria, the breakaway territory between Ukraine and Moldova, where their car was stopped by Russian soldiers. Then, after reaching Chisinau the following morning, they stayed in a crummy hotel overrun by cockroaches before settling as refugees in Zagreb. <\/p>\n

Oliynykova\u2019s father found a job as a taxi driver while her mother worked as a cleaner in a shopping centre. \u201cThe level of life was downgraded for us,\u201d Oliynykova says. \u201cIt was always a challenge, but I think my mentality helped me because I was just happy to play tennis. My father was very supportive and told me not to compare myself to the other girls, and that my time would come. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it with no sponsors. I was playing with holes in my shoes. I was eating the cheapest food. It was the same with my clothes, my tennis bags, but I didn\u2019t complain because I was motivated. I love playing tennis anywhere, but a big stadium is nice because there you can share your message.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandra<\/p>\n

Oliynykova takes inspiration from her father, who is serving on the front lines<\/p>\n

INSTAGRAM<\/p>\n

That is what is fuelling Oliynykova\u2019s momentum now. Her father joined the army in the summer of 2024, drawing an end to their adventures in the campervan and posts on Ukrainian Facebook community pages trying to find free places to stay in different cities, and Oliynykova returned to Kyiv full-time herself last year. <\/p>\n

While the WTA circuit moved from Romania to the Middle East, she headed to Kramatorsk, a key city near the front line in Donetsk that has been pummelled by missiles. \u201cI was coming back from [previously] occupied territory [that the Ukrainian army has since reclaimed] and I never saw anything like this in my life. This is pure evil. Imagine driving through small villages, small cities, and everything is completely destroyed. No home is saved. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if they come here [to Kyiv], they will do the same. When someone from your family is doing the right thing and defending your country so you can have a future, you understand you should turn all this pain and stress into true solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oleksandra<\/p>\n

Oliynykova is adamant she will not be silenced \u2014 \u201cMaybe sometimes I am emotional, but when you\u2019re living with the risk of being killed, I think you have a right to be emotional\u201d<\/p>\n

VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n

Oliynykova used her new-found platform at the Australian Open to renew calls for bans on Russian and Belarusian tennis players, including the world No1, Aryna Sabalenka. After losing in the first round, she then wore a T-shirt that read \u201cI need your help to protect Ukrainian women and children but I can\u2019t talk about it here\u201d to her press conference. <\/p>\n

While most Ukrainian players refuse handshakes with their Russian counterparts, Oliynykova went further by snubbing Anna Bondar during the Transylvania Open this month because the Hungarian played in a state-sponsored exhibition event in Saint Petersburg in December 2022. <\/p>\n

\"2026<\/p>\n

Oliynykova played in the Australian Open and has used her new platform to speak about the situation in Ukraine and to renew calls for bans on Russian and Belarusian players<\/p>\n

PHIL WALTER\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cI am only saying things that are facts from open sources that they are supporting war,\u201d she says. \u201cMaybe sometimes I am emotional, but when you\u2019re living with the risk of being killed, I think you have a right to be emotional. Right now I\u2019m in Ukraine and Russians are trying to kill me in my own apartment. When I\u2019m outside Ukraine, Russian players are attacking me [by sending] complaints about me to the WTA,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Oliynykova is adamant she will not be silenced but adds that she has faith the WTA will \u201cprotect me and stand with sports values\u201d \u2014 unlike the IOC after the Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was barred from competing at the Winter Olympics<\/a> because of his insistence on wearing a helmet depicting fellow athletes killed in the war. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people say sports is out of politics, they are propagandists for [Vladimir] Putin and the war,\u201d Oliynykova continues. \u201cWith Vladyslav, when I saw he was disqualified, I just felt like, \u2018So what do they want from me?\u2019 Because I\u2019m also an athlete. They want me just to run and hit the ball? Am I a joke or am I a human being? Is it a show like I\u2019m an animal in the circus? I don\u2019t think sport or art or culture can exist with no human values.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandra Oliynykova video calls from a food court in central Kyiv because an air raid alert interrupted her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-488202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}