LONDON — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek will host a charity tennis event next month in her home country of Poland to raise funds for children and teenagers impacted by the war in Ukraine.
The one-day event in Krakow on July 23 will feature a mixed doubles exhibition match and a set of singles between Swiatek and compatriot Agnieszka Radwanska. Ukraine soccer great Andriy Shevchenko will be a special guest.
“I hope that we can see each other in large numbers in TAURON Arena Krakow and in front of the television to show the strength of sport when it unites us in helping and gives us at least a little joy,” French Open champion Swiatek said Wednesday on her social media accounts.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine will serve as umpire for the event. They hope to sell at least 10,000 tickets.
Swiatek, on a 36-match winning streak, has been wearing a pin with the Ukrainian colors during her matches. More than 4 million refugees crossed into Poland after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Poland is providing them with free shelter, social and medical care, education and job opportunities.
The All England Club banned players from Russia and Belarus from competing this year at Wimbledon because of the war.
Swiatek, 21, beat Jana Fett 6-0 6-3 in her opening round match at Wimbledon on Tuesday and takes on Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove on Thursday.
The announcement of Swiatek’s charity event came the same day Ukrainians Lesia Tsurenko and Anhelina Kalinina faced each other in the second round. They said afterward that they feel they have been met with silence from their fellow competitors over the war.
“I have heard only from one Belarusian player and from one Russian player, who talked to me personally and told me, ‘I’m against the war.'” Tsurenko said. “I don’t know. I thought I had a lot of friends on tour, especially from Russians and Belarusians.”
Her experiences were echoed by Kalinina, who said the support she’s received from Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic was from one of the “few players who’s ready to help and to support my family and me.”
Tsurenko also issued a plea for more donations to aid the relief effort.
“If they think that to donate $10 means nothing, no, it’s not true,” she said. “It means a lot. In the city, in the main city of my region, Mykolaiv region, they don’t have water for few months already. So if you think that $10 is nothing, it is 10 bottles of water for these people.”
Information from The Associated Press, Reuters and ESPN’s Tom Hamilton was included in this report.