Former world No. 13 Alexandr Dolgopolov swapped tennis courts for trenches

(Patria) - While tennis players around the world were preparing for this year's US Open, Alexandr Dolgopolov was in a trench in Zaporizhzhia.

The former world No. 13 joined Ukraine's defense in the war with Russia, and for the English Daily Mail he recounted the situation his unit faced when they were heavily shelled by Russian mortars.

- You sit in a trench and after a few rounds of shells you start to notice the pattern. One mortar fires every two minutes, and another 40 seconds after it.

We were in the trench for 15 hours, all against zombies and drinking energy drinks, and the shells were getting closer.

First they were at 30 meters, then at 20, then at 15 meters from us. We were a meter underground - Dolgopolov recounted, and continued with details of the horror:

"You feel them passing through your body when they hit the ground and explode. You hear when they are launched and you know you have about 20 seconds before they explode.

For 120mm shells they say that if it lands less than eight meters from you, even if shrapnel doesn't hit you, your organs can rupture from the explosion.

You sit and can't do anything. You think about whether you can escape the trench and get to the car, and that is certainly the worst decision you can try to make in that situation."

He used his sports career to draw attention to all the horrors the Ukrainian people are experiencing, but also immediately joined the defense, reports Jutarnji list.

He was particularly harsh towards war profiteers, whom he regularly calls out on his social media. On the battlefield he had some difficult situations, including this one:

"One shell eventually fell close enough that we could all have had severe concussions. The explosion went straight through me.

But we got through it okay, and you know they don't have an unlimited number of shells, so at some point it will all come to an end. It's expensive to fire non-stop. When they stopped, we came out and continued with our duties."

Dolgopolov specialized in handling drones in the Ukrainian army. His task is to help his units from the rear in directing attacks.

- You show them where to shoot. They look at the video footage and can see the enemy positions more accurately.

Besides that, there is also gathering all other information, and while our soldiers are attacking, we control it from the sky. You learn what weapons the enemy has, how they sound, where they can see you - said Dolgopolov.

He also described what it's like when the enemy discovers you in hiding:

"If you hid poorly, they start shooting at you. There's nothing else to do but stay in the trench and hope nothing hits you."

He has also seen a lot of death.

- Recently one of my comrades died, he was 25 years old. He came from Georgia, came to fight for Ukraine, and it was a painful loss for us.

As time goes by, you see more people dying around you. All of that has left a mark on me. I'm not as happy as before, life is more stressful.

I used to be a very laid-back person, always smiling and ready for a joke. We still joke, but the toll of war is there. It's psychologically exhausting and we all pay for it - he said.

In the whole story, Dolgopolov also commented on the fact that the Ukrainian army does not have enough weapons to fight the powerful Russian war machine.

- Unfortunately, our partners do not have the goal for us to win. It is obvious to everyone that we receive just enough weapons and ammunition to continue fighting, but not to win.

It is clear that we do not have enough of anything to finish this. If we go into battle with five armored vehicles, the Russians will deploy 15. They have more people, they have more of almost everything, it is mathematically impossible to defeat them - stated the Ukrainian tennis player.

Dolgopolov, of course, does not follow tennis, but he commented on the fact that some tennis players decided to participate in an exhibition tournament in St. Petersburg.

- That is a disgrace, especially from European tennis players. I cannot understand them, I don't know what they are thinking.

They are there only for the money, but that is dirty money and I know they don't desperately need that money to play at such a tournament.

That is clear - concluded Dolgopolov, who won three ATP tournaments in his career, including the one in Umag in 2011.