Australian Open: From the Service Lines and Scorelines of Tennis to the Front Lines of War, Sport & Society

Despite their different international locations, seasons and settings, the tennis grand slams share a similar vibe, daily ritual, emotional arc and tournament narrative – from the promise, hope and disappointments of the first and second rounds to late round elation and devastation for finalists.

The Slams also share a similar rarefied atmosphere, a sense of space and place ‘inside the Slam bubble’, that is separate and suspended from the realities of everyday life.

The starkly different realities of those living and competing inside the bubble were exposed at the Australian Open earlier this week when the outer layer of protection and privilege that encases elite sporting events was stripped away.

The glimpse into the struggles faced by Ukrainian athletes on the world’s sporting stages while their nation comes under constant and merciless Russian attack emerged during a media conference by rising Ukrainian tennis star Oleksandra Oliynykova.

The surprising and unexpected but powerful account given by 25-year-old Oliynykova of Putin’s apocalyptic war and its toll on modern sport and society temporarily changed the slam’s vibe.

Oliynykova is emerging as one Ukraine’s brightest sporting heroes even as her beloved homeland clings to survival with a fighting spirit embodied by the tennis player through her presence against overwhelming odds on the world’s most famous tennis courts.

While Grand Slam narratives are typically based around existential themes as tournaments progress and players fight to survive round after round of sudden death, no second chance contests, Oliynykova’s media conference flipped the script.

She spoke of a very different battle of survival that transcends the meaning and metaphors of grand slam players fighting to prevail over opponents for sporting glory.

Her gripping eye-witness accounts gave a compelling insight into Ukraine’s wider tragedy and suffering through the lens of sport.

Oliynykova gave a rare insight into the deep emotional and psychological trauma faced by Ukrainian players at sporting events involving Russian competitors whose fellow countrymen conduct mass murder operations in Ukraine during international sporting events – Ukrainians athletes who compete in terrifying circumstances not knowing if their loved ones will still be alive when a sporting event is over.

She arrived at the slam as a trail blazing comet, leaving a deep first impression on the Australian Open’s sky blue courts where she pushed the reigning champion American Madison Keys to a first set tie break before losing her way and losing the match.

Oliynykova’s maiden Australian Open post-match media conference was even more remarkable and memorable.

The Ukrainian was disarming, articulate and energetic in recounting her journey from the battle lines of the war obliterating her country and culture to the front lines of global sport

The day before she flew out for the Australian Open she awoke to her apartment block shaking from a near fatal drone attack. Her father is a soldier and she has no electricity or running water in her apartment.

She was unyielding in her belief that Russian and Belarusian players – including world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka – should be banned while the war in Ukraine continues and urged those with power and influence behind the scenes to do more.

She was also adamant it was “very wrong” that Russian and Belarusian players were able to compete, despite a ban on their flags in an attempt to neutralize the presence of the two nations at the tournament.

Sabalenka is believed to have been singled out for reportedly signing a letter supporting Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko – who has close ties with Putin – during protests in 2020 following Lukashenko’s vigorously contested presidential election win viewed as a sham by western governments two years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The World No 1 has since stated that she does not support the war or Lukashenko and declined to engage in the issues raised by the young Ukrainian at the grand slam

Oliynykova also urged tennis officials to take stronger action against players from Russia and Belarusia and follow leading world governing bodies and international federations banning delegations and teams from the two counties – such as the IOC, Fifa, International Ice Hockey Federation, World Athletics and others.

Nor is this the first time that Russia’s cataclysmic invasion of Ukraine has spilled on to the courts of the Australian Open – pro-Putin demonstrators targeted the Grand Slam in 2023 with a fan displaying the controversial ‘Z’ pro-war emblem in support of the Ukraine invasion.

The young Ukraine tennis player reinvented grand slam conventions and storylines at the Australian Open. Instead of wearing an outfit emblazoned with sponsor branding, she pulled on a top after her match with Keys that said: “I need your help to protect Ukrainian children and women but I can’t talk to you about it here.”

This was perhaps a reference to keeping politics away from press conferences at major sporting events, another tradition that is sinking under the enormous moral weight of Putin’s war.

While other players insisted they were at the Melbourne Park tournament to compete and not for geopolitical debate, attempts to separate sport from politics have proven almost impossible in the Russian system where sport and politics service each other.

Making the case for political neutrality has proven increasingly difficult the longer Putin’s genocidal war mission has continued, characterized by the unrelenting slaughter of human life.

This has resulted in bans and restrictions on Russia by world sport governing bodies and federations against Putin and Kremlin controlled sports system in which athletes are expected to support and defend the war.

Oliynykova’s presence was not a protest but a plea to the world for help and not forget Ukraine’s plight nor become compassion fatigued by the grinding war.

It was also a declaration perhaps that despite appearances, things may not always be as they appear in highly choreographed moments of major sporting events.

“Because I know that here is the picture that we are like all tennis girls playing but the people don’t see the things behind it,” she told a local media outlet.

“And this is you know, the people with money and power, and they are using this to support aggression against my country.”

It is not clear why Oliynykova chose the Australian Open slam to make a public stand.

After losing her opening round match to Keys, she thanked the crowd and made the heart symbol, perhaps feeling safe in the grand slam host nation which has provided military and diplomatic support to Ukraine since the start of the war and which has also suffered great pain at the hands of Putin in recent times.

This followed the downing of a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet crippled by surface to air missiles which killed all on board including 38 Australians following orders widely suspected by international investigators and intelligence agencies to have been given by Putin’s Kremlin.

Australians would also be deeply sympathetic and sensitive to Oliynykova’s situation and the horrific violence inflicted on her Ukraine as the nation continues to grieve the victims of a terrorist attack at its iconic Bondi Beach that rocked Australia prior to Christmas.

Former AO Women’s champion Naomi Osaka was stunning as she entered centre court this week in a floor length jelly fish like outfit with long flowing hat, while Oliynykova was also striking in her own eye-catching, warrior like appearance, wearing temporary face tattoos of blue flowers along with permanent ink on her neck, arms and legs.

While Osaka’s high end fashionable appearance left centre court audiences gasping, Oliynykova was perhaps making a more subtle fashion statement with her presence at the Melbourne slam this week – that the defence of human life can never be allowed to go out of fashion in sport.

The writer is Michael Pirrie.