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Iga Swiatek is earning a lot of praise and winning many hearts for organizing the 'Iga Swiatek and Friends for Ukraine' campaign to raise funds and help those affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine. The charity event held in Krakow, Poland, over the past weekend was a rousing success and included a special appearance from Ukrainian football legend Andriy Shevchenko.
Shevchenko hailed Swiatek for doing her part in helping his country recover from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. He also thanked fellow footballer and Polish sporting great Robert Lewandowski for his contributions to the same cause.
Shevchenko visited Ukrainian refugee children in the Polish capital Warsaw for a Laureus event after his Krakow visit and sent a heartfelt message to the world's No. 1 female tennis player.
"I want to thank you Polish people for being very kind to my country to host us here to provide for all our needs," Shevchenko said in a video posted by Laureus Sport.
"Thank you so much for your support. Also, I want to thank Iga Swiatek and Robert Lewandowski for taking a big part in the achievement to help my country to raise funds and be supportive against the war in Ukraine," he expressed.
He further praised Swiatek for her contributions to great social causes at such a young age.
"She is so young – only 21 – and she is already doing so much," the former Chelsea striker said.
The 'Iga Swiatek and Friends for Ukraine' charity event was attended by 12,000 spectators at the TAURON Arena in Krakow and raised 2.5 million PLN (€530,000). The funds will be used to help children affected by the war in Ukraine.
The event kicked off with a mixed doubles match where Swiatek and fellow Pole Martin Pawelski defeated former World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska and Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky in a super tiebreaker. Radwanska then stunned Swiatek by winning their singles match 6-4.
The event was chaired by Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina, who is currently on a break from tennis due to pregnancy.
"We wanted to remind the world that the war in Ukraine is not over" - Iga Swiatek
After a successful event, Iga Swiatek reiterated the purpose of hosting the event and was glad to play a huge part in an important social cause through the medium of tennis. Having said that, Swiatek is not yet done and aims to carry out more efforts to help the war-affected in Ukraine.
"I know that social memory is short, so we wanted to remind the world that the war in Ukraine is not over. I think that we have completed the task of helping with tennis, and we have shown the great social power of sport," Swiatek said on the same.
On the WTA tour, the top-ranked player in the world is scheduled to participate in the Poland Open - her home WTA event - this week. It will be her first appearance since losing in the third round at Wimbledon, a loss that ended her 37-match winning streak.
However, she still holds the record for the longest winning run in women's tennis since the turn of the century.
