Sergiy Stakhovsky is finding it difficult to concentrate on tennis due to the turmoil in his native Ukraine. Russian troops entered the Crimea region of Ukraine after pro-Western protests led to the removal of Ukraine's Russia-friendly president.
"It's not easy," he told reporters at Indian Wells after winning his first-round match. "Wherever you open the internet, any source, everything is popping up. You just stop to read the news...hours, reading just articles from different sites. It's just too much information, and unfortunately you can't stop yourself, because you want to know what's going on.”
Stakhovsky has also spoken out about the situation, saying it is the "first time I ever... have political statements in my career," and that it was difficult for a Ukrainian citizen to be "capable of staying out of it.”
Stahovsky, who lost his second-round match to Gael Monfils, wrote about his view of the situation for Sports Illustrated.
"I would say one thing, we don't want any war going on, and we want Russian troops out of Crimea," he reiterated. "We want our peace, we want our temporary parliament to... stabilize the situation as much as they can, and just leave and let the new Parliament the new President to be voted on for pretty much the first time for Ukraine."
Fellow Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov released a video last week with messages from Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Gael Monfils calling for an end to armed conflict.