World's oldest tennis player chooses to stay in Ukraine as Russia invades

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Ukrainian Leonid Stanislavskyi, the world’s oldest tennis player, said Monday he’s hoping to survive Russia’s invasion of his home country.

Stanislavskyi, a 97-year-old amateur tennis player, told Reuters he’s hoping to survive long enough to hit triple digits and said there was no real reason for war in the 21st century.

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The world's oldest tennis player, Ukrainian Leonid Stanislavskyi, 97, takes part in an award ceremony of the Guinness World Record certificate in Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 7, 2021. (REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy)

"I hope I live to reach 100. I have to survive this frightening situation. The war started on (Feb.) 24th. From the 24th till now I have practically not gone out. I've stayed at home... I have supplies, the fridge is full. I'm sitting at home, not going anywhere," he told the news agency.

He said his sister is in Poland and pleaded with him to leave Ukraine, but he has no intentions to do that.

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"I never thought that I would have to live through another, more frightening war where people from both sides are dying -- mothers are losing their children, wives are losing their sons and their husbands," said Stanislavskyi, who helped build military planes for the Soviet Union in World War II to fight the Nazis.

The world's oldest tennis player, Ukrainian Leonid Stanislavskyi, 97, practices on court in Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 7, 2021. (REUTERS/Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy)

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"What is this? What good is it? In the 21st century there can't be war. The war needs to be