How Elina Svitolina stood at the forefront of the tennis world's response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Elina Svitolina has been one of the most vocal tennis players in the condemnation of Russia for their invasion of Ukraine. Being Ukrainian, Svitolina has not shied away from criticizing Russia on social media as well as any platform she can find to voice her opinion.

Russia invaded Ukraine a week ago with both air and ground forces across different parts of the country, including Odessa, Kharkiv and the capital city of Kiev. Ukraine responded by cutting off all diplomatic ties with the aggressor, and several countries around the world have since expressed their staunch disapproval of Russia's actions.

The tennis fraternity, being a global community, made their opinions known as well, advocating for a peaceful resolution to the situation. Several Russian players, including World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, joined the call with their "No war!" messages. But none have been as outspoken as Svitolina.

Svitolina first gave her thoughts on the matter on the day the invasion took place, sharing a pro-Ukraine video on her social media accounts. She shared the clip along with a message stating that she was proud to be a citizen of Ukraine and calling for the world to unite behind her country.

"I am proud to be Ukrainian. Let us unite in this extremely difficult time for the sake of peace and the future of our state. Glory to Ukraine," Svitolina wrote.

She followed it up with further tweets thanking the proud soldiers who had enrolled to defend their country, as well as continued appeals to other countries to lend their support to Ukraine.

"My heart bleeds. We Ukrainians ask for the support and help of the whole full-fledged civilized world," Elina Svitolina wrote. "My sincere thanks to our guys and girls who defend our Motherland."

The former World No. 3 also retweeted several tweets that echoed the same sentiments, including supporting donation campaigns to assist those who were displaced by the war.

The 27-year-old also endorsed Daria Saville's campaign, encouraging players to wear yellow and blue colored outfits at the upcoming Indian Wells Open. Saville, who was born in Russia but represents Australia on the WTA tour, wanted to use Ukraine's national colors to draw attention to the issue in the global media.

"Unite," Elina Svitolina tweeted along with a blue and yellow heart to signify Ukraine's national colors.

Elina Svitolina committed to donating her prize money from upcoming tournaments to humanitarian aid programs in Ukraine

Elina Svitolina proclaimed that she will donate her prize money to the Ukrainian army

A few days ago, Svitolina penned a heartfelt letter to her homeland, reminding the country to stay strong and positive in the midst of these troubling times. The World No. 15 declared that she was proud of what her fellow citizens have done so far and announced that she will be donating the prize money from her next tournaments to help with relief work in Ukraine.

"I am so proud. See our people, our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters, our children, they are so brave and strong, fighting to defend You. They are heroes," Svitolina wrote. "I commit to redistribute the prize money of my next tournaments to support army and humanitarian needs and help them to defend You, our country."

At the Monterrey Open, the Ukrainian was scheduled to take on Russia's Anastasia Potapova in her opener. But Svitolina maintained that she would not take on any players from Russia or Belarus until the ITF, ATP and WTA recognized them as neutral athletes without any national affiliations.

"We, Ukrainian players, requested the ATP, WTA and ITF to follow the recommendations of the IOC to accept Russian or Belarussian nationals as neutral athletes, without displaying any national symbols, colours, flags or anthems," Elina Svitolina wrote. "I want to announce that I will not play tomorrow in Monterrey, nor any other match against Russian or Belarussian tennis players until our organizations take this necessary decision."

The request was accepted by the regulatory bodies, and the top seed went on to defeat Potapova in straight sets to secure passage to the second round.

During an on-court interview, the Svitolina could not hold back her tears. She thanked everyone who stood by Ukraine and remarked that she played the match with renewed vigor because she was "on a mission for her country".

Elina Svitolina will face Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova in her next match. Understandably, a lot will be on her mind when she takes to the court. But the top seed will be fighting for something much bigger than herself come Thursday, which is bound to give her the motivation to play her best tennis.