Why doesn’t Kalinina play for Ukraine? FTU Vice President answered the question

Yevgeny Zukin, Vice-President and Executive Director of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, explained why Ukraine’s first racket, Angelina Kalinina, does not play for the national team in team competitions:

– Speaking of the strongest squad, the most asked question is: Why don’t we see Angelina Kalinina in the team? Is there any reason?

You should ask him questions. He does not want to play for the national team. Honestly, I must say that was the last time Kalinina played for the U12 national team. He hasn’t played U14, U16, U18 anyway. Youth Olympics yes, plus or minus, he plays for the national team where he even won bronze. But I remember, I just joined the federation, we had a great U18 team that could get the highest results – Fridman and Kalinina and they didn’t want to play.

When it comes to playing for the U12 national team, it’s a battle of parents, everyone calls, offers bribes to “take mine”, you don’t know how to stop them. U14 – already calmer, U16 – much calmer, U18 – it is no longer possible to assemble the strongest team. Because nobody wants it. Here is such a development. And then an adult team where you “normally have to pay us to play”. This is the truth and there is no other.

In terms of financing, of course there is no other financing. I went to a few meetings for sports, 3 billion but they won’t reach tennis because it’s definitely not a priority. And in general it just doesn’t fit my head, how can we fund the sport through the government by raising money for socks, heaters and something else? Therefore, we must manage our resources. So all the questions about the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup… This is the federation’s money, not these players’ money. The Federation then negotiates, accepts or not. Everything else is implication. The money given by the ITF is in no way linked to the payments made for the participation of tennis players. We were just trying to find a formula for ourselves, it broke down as soon as it didn’t fit one of the parties.