Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev makes plea for peace amid Ukraine war: ‘All we need’

Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev defeated Daniil Medvedev in a hard-fought match in three sets in the group stage of the ATP World Tour Finals and made a plea for peace.

After defeating Medvedev 7-6 (9) in the final set of the match, the seventh-ranked player wrote “Peace, Peace, Peace, All we need,” on a TV camera lens.

Russia’s incursion in Ukraine brought consequences to the sports world, particularly tennis. Russian and Belarusian players were forced to compete under a neutral flag. Players from those countries were banned from competing at Wimbledon earlier this year.

“On the one hand, I can understand (the decision) and, on the other, I find it unfair,” Medvedev said at the time, via Russia’s TASS agency. “This is a delicate situation because it sets a precedent and puts other sports competitions in an uncomfortable position. Where is the line? What are the rules that should lead to a possible exclusion?”

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Rublev made a similar appeal in February at the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“No war please” he wrote on a TV camera lens.

His latest appeal came after Russia withdrew from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, one of the biggest successes in the nearly nine-month war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.