Russia's No 1 tennis player Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova urges end to war with Ukraine

London, Feb 28 (IANS) Russia's highest-ranked women's singles tennis player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has called for an end to her country's war amid the continued invasion of Ukraine.

The 30-year-old, who won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, wrote a long post, clarifying her stand on the ongoing dispute between the two countries.

"I've been playing tennis since I was a kid, I have represented Russia all my life, this is my home and my country - but now I am in complete fear, as are my friends and family," the world No 14 wrote in a post on her Twitter page.

The winner of 12 singles titles on the WTA Tour and five singles titles on the ITF Circuit, has categorically said that personal ambitions or political motives cannot justify violence.

"But I am not afraid to clearly state my position, I am against war and violence, personal ambitions or political motives cannot justify violence, this takes away the future not only from us but also from our children - I am confused and do not know how to help in this situation," she said.

"I'm just an athlete who plays tennis, I am not a politician, not a public figure, I have no experience in this, I can only publicly disagree with these decisions taken and openly talk about it - stop the violence, stop the war."

The sports world has vehemently condemned the military action in Ukraine and governing bodies have been addressing their own position, with even individual players making their own stand against the war including Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and now Pavlyuchenkova.

The 30-year-old won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, as did Rublev as they competed in the mixed doubles together, but they couldn't do it under their official flag as Russia was banned from the tournament, instead, they represented the Russian Olympic Committee.