Story of great grit and determination: When ex-Ukrainian tennis player takes up weapons against Russia

In one of the most extraordinary war stories, Ukrainian tennis player, Sergiy Stakhovsky, took up the arms to defend his country from the Russian invasion.

Stakhovsky, who was knocked out in the qualifying stage of the Australian Open 2022, couldn't stop himself from coming to support his country. When he got to know about the Russian invasion of Ukraine he had three days of sleepless nights. Then he decided to leave his family behind in Budapest for safety and left the home without telling them what his next plan would be.

Also read: Jake Daniels: 1st openly gay footballer in UK since 1990

While talking to BBC, the 36-year-old tennis player said he actually sneaked out on his kids and took the return journey back to Kyiv.

Stakhovsky, who attained a world ranking of 31 in 2010, retired from tennis after the Australian Open 2022. He defeated Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2013, thus ending the Swiss tennis star's 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearance.