At US Open's Ukraine fundraiser, fun abounds with Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek and other bright lights, but the war still casts a shadow

Exhibitions staged to raise money for worthy causes like cancer research or hurricane relief are familiar to all of us. But there’s something a little surreal about watching all the fun at a hit-and-giggle festival dedicated to raising awareness of a nation that is experiencing slaughter, and wholesale destruction, in real time.

That was the case on Wednesday evening at Flushing Meadows, where the USTA, under the banner of the ongoing “Tennis Plays for Peace” initiative, hosted an entertaining “exo” to raise funds for beleaguered Ukraine.

The event, hosted with just the right amount of gravitas by ESPN analyst Patrick McEnroe, featured many of the game’s top players, including John McEnroe, Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff. It also kicked off a multi-pronged, three-week long effort to support Ukraine, somewhat alleviating the disappointment many felt when the American Grand Slam (which begins in earnest on Monday) decided to accept the entry of players from Russia and Belarus. Just weeks ago, Wimbledon denied entry to those pros because the two nations are allies in the unprovoked invasion and ongoing war on Ukraine.

Ironically, Wimbledon’s policy ensured that without players from the rogue nations present, there was far less focus on the ongoing horrors in Ukraine. It could be very different in the coming weeks in Gotham, where Russian players will appear on a very public stage.

The exo on Wednesday began with Patrick McEnroe telling a live TV audience and on-site fans who filled the entire bottom tier of Louis Armstrong Stadium—many bearing flags or dressed in Ukraine’s blue-and-yellow colors—“We stand with the people of Ukraine and their courage and resilience inspires us all.”

In a surprise, McEnroe introduced Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky, the recently retired ATP pro who once ranked as high as No. 31, and owns a win over Roger Federer at Wimbledon. Russia invaded Ukraine shortly after Stakhovsky left the game in order to spend more time with his wife and three children. But when the killing commenced, he returned to Ukraine and signed up to fight.

“My wife wasn’t taking it too well,” he said, semi-facetiously, then added, “Thanks for your support of Ukraine, without that it would be really tough. The daily fighting goes on, unfortunately the shelling goes the same way as when it started on February 24th.”

When the actual play began (each “match” just a 10-point tiebreaker), it quickly became clear that the players were all-in. Up first, Gauff was paired with John McEnroe to play Swiatek and Nadal. Gauff seemed to have a ball, touching both the hit and giggle bases, punctuating points and rallies with repeated cries of, “Oh, my God!”

After she and McEnroe lost, Gauff told the crowd why she took part in this particular exhibition: “You guys know me. When it’s right I like to speak out.”

Nadal was asked how he felt coming back to the tournament that he won the last time he played it, in 2019.

“It’s been a rough two years,” the men’s Grand Slam singles title record holder said. But instead of reeling off the expected litany of injurie and surgeries, he continued, “Rough in terms of the pandemic, and then the war.”

Nadal left it that, sensing‑as did some others when they were asked career-specific questions—that this wasn’t the moment to be talking about how great it was to be back in New York.

Stefanos Tsitsipas was paired with Greek compatriot Maria Sakkari, facing Matteo Berrettini and Ukraine’s 22-year old Katerina Zavatska. At one point, Tsitsipas told Sakkari that if she aced Berrettini, he would donate $10,000 to the tennis-affiliated GlobalGiving Ukrainian relief fund.

Sakkari hit a fault.

Tsitsipas then altered the deal, saying he would donate that sum if Berrettini missed his next serve return. Sakkari hit the serve, and Berrettini demonstrated that he’s more skilled at tennis than at acting when he spectacularly flubbed the next return. Berrettini, too, was gracious in acknowledging the crucial nature of the cause, and thanked the USTA for inviting him to take part.

There’s something inherently cheesy about exhibitions, an unavoidable air of forced fun as the players revel in the opportunity to ham it up, rib each other, and showboat with no fear of scoreboard justice. Frances Tiafoe, who played in two matches, produced the best crack of the evening after partnering with Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz to play against his close friends Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

“I had a lot of fun tonight alongside these guys,” Tiafoe said. “They’re all great guys. I don’t really like Taylor that much, honestly, but everyone else was fun to be with.”

Life-and-death issues percolated under this glaze of fun and games, but the players understand that lecturing or educating fans isn’t the point. These events are meant to raise awareness in a way that’s enjoyed by everyone, and by implicitly suggesting that by taking part, the player is endorsing the cause in question.

That was one reason that the USTA decided against allowing Victoria Azarenka, the former No. 1 from Belarus, to take part in this exhibition. Azarenka, like almost all the players from the criminal allies, has said next to nothing about the war, but she’s said plenty—all of it critical—about the Wimbledon ban. She has also been photographed in the past with Belarusian presiden and Putin puppet Alexsandr Lukashenko.

“I think what people missed here was a big opportunity to show how sports can unite,” Azarenka said of the Wimbledon ban at the recent Citi Open. “I think we missed that opportunity, but I hope we can still show it.”

Ukrainian players, and many others, found Azarenka’s comments offensive and insensitive, as if somehow having Ukrainian and Belarusian players yukking it up in an exo would miraculously convince Putin to halt his war, rather than lend his monstrous activities a patina of normalcy.

The news that Azarenka considered taking part in the exhibition led Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk to decline her own invitation to the event. Speaking about Azarenka, she told the Ukrainian publication BTU, “She knows from our words how we cannot tolerate them (Russians and Belarusians) here, how we want them not to be at any tournament, like in England. Despite this, she goes for it. She doesn't even communicate with us, but here she just takes and does. I can't understand, why?”

Kostyuk has expressed dismay at how little private support or even words of comfort she has been offered by the players in question. She and other Ukrainians consider it a slap in the face that Azarenka continues to sit on the WTA’s Player Council instead of recusing herself from that policy-making body due to conflicts of interest. How does a Player Council not reach out to a cohort as in need of support and care, as Ukrainian players who cannot even go home?

I just want to say that normally on this day all Ukrainian people are going in the street, having fun, watching the fireworks. Unfortunately, this year’s fireworks are not the same. Katarina Zavatska

The USTA, laudably, saw the point made by Kostyuk and others who support banning players because, whether they like it or not, they are representatives of their respective nations. In denying Azarenka participation in the exhibition, the USTA wrote in statement: “Vika is a strong player leader, and we appreciate her willingness to participate. [But] Given the sensitivities to Ukrainian players, and the on-going conflict, we believe this is the right course of action for us.”

The gravity of the situation in Ukraine bubbled to the surface of this exhibition enough times to remind everyone of the dire situation. Katarina Zavatska, who partnered with Berrettini, also said a few words after their match.

“Hi everyone, thanks a lot for coming,” Zavatska, clearly nervous, began. “It means a lot to see so many supporting Ukraine. Today is a special day in Ukraine, the birthday of our country (Ukraine gained its independence 31 years ago on Wednesday). I just want to say that normally on this day all Ukrainian people are going in the street, having fun, watching the fireworks. Unfortunately, this year’s fireworks are not the same.”

It was one of the evening’s few direct references to a war that is being fought on many fronts, now including one in the New York borough of Queens.