From representing Ukraine in the Davis Cup to donning a military uniform on the front line, Alexandr Dolgopolov has undergone quite a transformation in the service of his country.
The 35-year-old 2011 Australian Open quarter-finalist is back in Kyiv awaiting a new deployment after serving on the front line for several months, defending his homeland against Russian invaders.
He said his family “were unhappy” at his joining up in 2022, a decision taken when he was watching TV in Turkey where he had taken his sister and mother to safety after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion in February that year.
Photo: AFP
“It is my home so I think you have to do something,” Dolgopolov said in a telephone interview. “There were lots of reasons, a courageous people, the barbarity of the enemy, and I think just fighting for the good side, defending what is yours.”
Dolgopolov said that despite having no military experience, his time in professional tennis — “I had been playing since I was two” — served him well in certain respects.
Asked to contrast his former profession to his new role, Dolgopolov said: “Sport is like a small war without killing people.”
“Mentality helps you because in your [sporting] career you have to go through many, many tough moments like injuries, extreme heat, the travel. It’s a tough job, top-level sports,” he said.
Dolgopolov once reached the heady heights of 13th in the world and won three titles before a long-term wrist injury ended his career prematurely in 2021.
Affectionately known on social media as “Dog,” he says his days on the court might be over, but old habits remain useful.
“Here in war when you have tough moments you know how you can recover from them, like being tired,” he said. “In other situations such as taking fast decisions like in tennis.”
Even “good habits like being on time and being organized” have served him well in the military, he said.
Dolgopolov said he had only once handled a gun prior to joining up, and he largely did his military training on his own — even buying his own rifle.
“A few times, maybe five to seven times, I had a little bit of training with professional military personnel,” he said.
Dolgopolov — who is in contact with another former tennis player turned soldier, Sergiy Stakhovsky — said he was phlegmatic when he first visited the front line in the Kherson region.
Indeed unnervingly so.
“I was not panicking myself, as I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie,” he said, adding that he had thrived on “the big matches on the [tennis] circuit.”
“The first time I visited the unit was under mortar shelling. Most of the unit had been fighting since 2014 when the invasion of the Donbass took place,” Dolgopolov said. “Seeing them more nervous as myself I said OK. I did not understand what was going on.”
“I was quite calm, which is quite scary and not good for you as when you do not feel the fear you can take the wrong decisions,” he said.
Dolgopolov came through his first tour of duty unscathed, but others were not so lucky — a Georgian volunteer was killed.
“For sure that was a tough one for us,” he said. “He was quite a young guy, a really talented engineer and really nice.”
Dolgopolov is sanguine about Ukraine’s chances of success against Russia, saying the lack of resources is having an impact, and the West is not supplying enough military equipment.
“We do not have enough to keep them out we could also see that in the counteroffensive,” he said.
“They [the Russians] passed a defense budget of US$100 billion a year for next three years. In order to destroy them we need to triple that,” Dolgopolov said. “They say if you attack you need triple the force, and they spend so much money and have the advantage in everything from armor to the air force to people.”
“How can Ukraine win? Obviously we need much more equipment,” he added.
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