Episode 87: Slava Ukraini

Hold On to Your Racket with Josefina Gurevich and Shravya Pant

Welcome back, hotties. This episode comes at a difficult moment in the current state of geopolitics and the news, so we want to dedicate much of our discussion towards the calls for peace and brave activism from both Ukrainian and Russian voices in the tennis world. Sport is, after all, a microcosm of the world’s social causes. We discuss the Yastremska sisters’ heartbreaking flight from home and emotional moments on court, Elina Svitolina’s activism, and the brave outspokenness of the likes of Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova showing their support as Russian players. We also give our take on the IOC’s Recommendations for banning athletes and the tennis world’s response, while also overviewing other notable stories like our Women’s History Month feature, Medvedev’s rise to #1, Naomi Osaka’s Fortnite debut, Zverev's disqualification, Leander Paes' domestic abuse conviction, and Iga Swiatek, Rafael Nadal, and Sloane Stephens’ stellar play last week. Last but certainly not least, be sure to tune in so you can find out how to vote us for Best Tennis Podcast in the Sports Podcast Awards! See linktr.ee/HoldOntoYourRacketPodcast for more. Sending love to you all during this difficult times.