(Indian Wells) Andrey Rublev, one of the few Russians to have spoken out clearly against the war in Ukraine, assured “feel bad for everyone” and called on athletes to “be united to lead by example” on Friday after qualifying for the Indian Wells semi-finals.

“You can’t not see the news. What I can say is that it’s terrible what is happening,” he said, questioned by journalists on how he follows events in Ukraine.

“I feel really bad for everyone. This is why sport must be an example. We must be united, we must stay out of politics, to set an example at least in the sporting sphere. I think that would be a good message, for a better world,” Rublev added.

On February 25, just after his victory in the semi-finals of the Dubai tournament, he had written “no war” on the lens of a camera. The day before, Russia had started its military action to invade Ukraine.

“When it all started there, I started getting a lot of bad messages [sur les réseaux sociaux]. I just wrote how I felt at the time, not thinking about how many people would see it or how far it would go,” he said.

“Afterwards, there were more than 22 million views. I think I was one of the first sportsmen in the world to say that. In the end, all the messages I got, almost 100% of them, were just positive, like ‘Thank you’ or stuff like that,” he continued.

In the microcosm of tennis, Rublev (7^and world) was indeed the quickest to condemn the war waged by his country.

His compatriot Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, finalist of Roland-Garros 2021, and the Belarusian, ex-world No.1, Victoria Azarenka did the same, with stronger words than Daniil Medvedev who simply launched an appeal for peace.

In Indian Wells, Rublev plays without mention of his country or representation of his flag, and this until further notice, in accordance with the decision of the governing bodies of tennis which did not want to ban Russians and Belarusians from competitions.

A measure deemed insufficient by the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk, who expressed her disagreement with the position of the ATP and the WTA and castigated the silence, the lack of empathy of the Russians towards her on the circuit.